The life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer Part 10

The Bristol and Exeter Railway is a continuation of the Great Western Railway, and was opened to Exeter in 1844. The two portions of it, from Bristol to Taunton, and from Taunton to Exeter, are in marked contrast to each other. The former part of the line is almost level, and has very easy curves. Between Taunton and Exeter it pa.s.ses over the high ground on the borders of Devons.h.i.+re, with the Whiteball Tunnel at the summit, ? mile in length. On this part of the line there are long gradients of from 1 in 80 to 1 in 120. Mr. Brunel resigned the position of engineer in 1846, in consequence of differences having arisen between the Bristol and Exeter and the Great Western Companies, which, in Mr. Brunel's opinion, made it impossible for him to continue engineer to both railways.

The South Devon Railway, and the adoption on it of the Atmospheric System, are described in Chapter VI. In connection with this line is the important Torquay branch, and the railway in continuation of it to Dartmouth. This was completed as far as Paignton during Mr. Brunel's lifetime.

The South Devon and Tavistock Railway branches off from the South Devon Railway near Plymouth, and has several large viaducts.

On the Cornwall Railway from Plymouth to Truro, and the West Cornwall Railway from Truro to Penzance, the most remarkable works are the viaducts, and the Royal Albert Bridge.

In the case of the Cornwall Railway, it became necessary to reduce the capital expenditure, even at the cost of increasing the charges for maintenance. With this object the line was re-examined and modifications introduced, princ.i.p.ally by an increase in the extent of viaduct. These lines pa.s.s through a very difficult country; involving the adoption of steep gradients and sharp curves. Mr. Brunel, in a memorandum written in 1845, after having explained his reasons for considering that the prejudicial effects of gradients and curves were commonly overrated, gives the following opinion in reference to the proposed Cornwall Railway:--

I must not be understood to argue against the advantage of straight lines or large and easy curves, but I wish to show that where small curves are unavoidable, they can in practice be so constructed as not to be very prejudicial; and I consider that the character of the country in Cornwall is such that no railway can be constructed at any moderate expense without either sacrificing all consideration for the interests of localities and the position of the population to the mere choice of levels, or without steep gradients and sharp curves.

The princ.i.p.al lines branching off from the Great Western, and since incorporated with it, are, on the south, the Berks and Hants, from Reading to Basingstoke and Hungerford; and the Wilts and Somerset, to Weymouth and Salisbury. On the north-west is the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway, from Swindon to Cheltenham and Gloucester. This line pa.s.ses through the Cotswold Hills at Sapperton by a tunnel 1?

mile in length. The Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway runs from Gloucester to Grange Court, and thence to Ross and Hereford.

The South Wales Railway, which extends from Grange Court to Milford Haven, contains a tunnel at Swansea ? mile long, and some of Mr.

Brunel's most important works, including the Chepstow bridge and several other bridges of considerable size, and the viaducts at Landore and Newport. There are also on this line four opening bridges across navigable channels. The works at the termination of the line at Neyland, in Milford Haven, are described in Chapter XIV. Mr. Brunel considered that Milford Haven, with its excellent harbour, which can be entered at all times of tide by the largest vessels, would probably become a great port for ocean steamers, and especially for the 'Great Eastern' and s.h.i.+ps of her cla.s.s.

There are also in South Wales the following railways: the Taff Vale, the Vale of Neath, the Llynvi Valley, and the South Wales Mineral. The Taff Vale, a line from Cardiff to Merthyr, was opened on the narrow gauge in 1841.[46] On this railway is the lofty masonry viaduct at Quaker's Yard.

On the Vale of Neath Railway, from Neath to Aberdare and Merthyr, there is a tunnel, near Merthyr, 1 mile long, and 650 feet below the summit of the hill.

Full advantage is taken on this railway of the facilities which the broad gauge offers for heavy traffic. The line has long steep gradients, and the locomotives used on it, of the cla.s.s known as tank engines, are of great power. One of these gradients is 4 miles long, with an inclination of 1 in 50. Large quant.i.ties of coal are brought down by this railway to the Swansea and Briton Ferry Docks. The coal of South Wales is of a friable nature, and, in order to avoid the breakage consequent on the ordinary mode of s.h.i.+pping coal, by tipping it down a shoot, Mr. Brunel introduced on a large scale the use of trucks carrying four iron boxes, each box about 4 feet 8 inches cube, and containing two and a half tons of coal. At the docks machinery is provided by which each box is lowered down into the hold of the s.h.i.+p, and the under side being allowed to open, the coal is deposited at once on the bottom of the vessel.

The Llynvi Valley Railway is a short line, leading from the South Wales Railway at Bridgend into the coal and iron districts.

The South Wales Mineral Railway is another line of the same cla.s.s. It pa.s.ses through a very heavy country, and has on it a self-acting incline of 1 in 9, mile long, worked by a rope, and a tunnel ? mile long, and 470 feet below the surface.

In connection with the South Wales district is the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway, a line running from Bristol to the banks of the Severn, across which the traffic is carried by a steamer to a short branch from the South Wales Railway on the other side. This railway had been for a long time contemplated, and Mr. Brunel devoted much time to a careful investigation of the Severn in order to determine the most suitable point for the crossing. He decided that the best place would be at what is known as the New Pa.s.sage. The arrangements had to be made in accordance with the requirements of the Admiralty. Trains run to the end of timber piers extending into deep water, and there are staircases and lifts leading to pontoons, alongside which a steamer can come at all times of tide. The tide at this part of the Severn rises 46 feet.

The three railways last mentioned were not completed during Mr. Brunel's lifetime.

The Bristol and Gloucester Railway, on which is the tunnel at Wickwar, mile long, was opened in 1844, and pa.s.sed into the hands of the Midland Company in 1846.

The northern extensions of the Great Western Railway are the Oxford and Rugby, constructed as far as Fenny Compton; the Birmingham and Oxford Junction; and the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railways.

Mr. Brunel ceased to be engineer of the last-mentioned company in 1851, and the works were completed by Mr. Fowler. The Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton line has since, under the t.i.tle of the West Midland, become a part of the Great Western Railway.

In Ireland Mr. Brunel was engineer of the line from Dublin to Wicklow, round Bray Head, and of a line from Cork to Youghal.

He laid out two railways in Italy, the line from Florence to Pistoja, and that across the Apennines from Genoa to Novi and Alessandria, in the direction of Turin and Milan. He acted as engineer during the construction of the former line; but the works of the latter were carried out by the Sardinian Government.

One of the last of Mr. Brunel's important railways was the Eastern Bengal Railway, a line of about 100 miles in length, in a north-easterly direction from Calcutta. He took a great interest in the work and devoted much time to the special arrangements and designs, and to the best way of crossing the Ganges and its branches in the future extension of the railway; but no part of it was opened during his lifetime.

It was impossible for Mr. Brunel to look after all his works to the same extent as he had done in the case of the Great Western Railway; and he was compelled to spend a very considerable amount of time in attendance on Committees of the Houses of Parliament on behalf of the railways to which he was engineer. Mr. Brunel frequently regretted this, and considered it a great evil that engineers were prevented by their duties during the session from attending properly to the construction of their works. He endeavoured as far as possible to superintend the execution of his different undertakings. He availed himself of every opportunity of examining them, and was acquainted throughout with all the designs which were prepared. He would take advantage of two or three free days to go down to the distant works in South Wales or in Cornwall, looking after details, such as the pickling tanks for timber, and the masonry of the viaducts.

He was fortunate in the selection of the members of his staff, and in his organisation of it. He had a rare power of utilising the capabilities of his different a.s.sistants; and although he had to deal with a great variety of men, he managed that they should work in harmony with him. From the complete personal supervision Mr. Brunel sought to maintain over all his works, his a.s.sistants had not perhaps so many opportunities of independent action as they might otherwise have obtained, but they had, on the other hand, the advantage of constant personal communication with their chief.

After the time when Mr. Brunel's works became so numerous, and his time so much occupied, that he could not exercise in person that general supervision which he conceived to be necessary, he was ably a.s.sisted by Mr. Robert Pearson Brereton, who, on the death of Mr. Hammond in 1847, became the chief of his engineering staff.

Mr. Brunel rarely made any changes in the _personnel_ of his office. Mr.

Brereton had become one of his a.s.sistants in 1836; and his secretary, the late Mr. Joseph Bennett, came to him in the same year.

The Great Western Railway retained its early place in his affections, and among his most valued friends were members of the Board of Directors, Mr. Saunders the Secretary, and other officers of the company. When in the last year of his life he was obliged to go to Egypt for his health, it was a matter of deep anxiety to him lest his absence from England should cause any alteration in his relations with the Company, and it was a source of great pleasure to him that no such consequences followed.

Mr. Brunel's position as confidential adviser of so large a number of railway companies gave him frequent opportunities of acting as mediator between contending parties; and his decisions were always received with respect, for he was known to be scrupulously just.

Besides the more friendly task of reconciling opponents he had a large practice as a referee under Acts of Parliament and orders of the superior courts; and displayed in these matters great judicial abilities.

In all the causes and parliamentary contests affecting the various companies of which he was engineer, Mr. Brunel was a very important member of the preliminary consultations, and during the proceedings counsel relied with confidence on his suggestions.

One of the most arduous parts of his duty, as engineer of the Great Western Railway Company, was connected with the conduct of the great cases of Ranger and MacIntosh. To the former of these reference is made in the letter printed below, at p. 478. The MacIntosh case, which was commenced shortly after the opening of the line, was not concluded before Mr. Brunel's death. He was compelled to devote a considerable portion of his time to it, even after his return home in the evening, during the launch of the 'Great Eastern.'

Mr. Brunel had a very high reputation as a witness. Mr. St. George Burke, Q.C., has communicated a memorandum on this subject.

'As a witness he could always be relied on as a perfect master of the case he had to support, and he had the rare quality of confining his answers to a simple reply to the questions put to him, without appearing as an advocate. He was, however, extremely particular as to the questions which should be put to him in his examination in chief, and was therefore never satisfied to entrust the preparation of his proof to the solicitor, without revising it himself.

'In his cross-examinations he was generally a match for the most skilful counsel, and by the adroitness of his answers would often do as much to advance his case as by his examination in chief.

'He was almost as much of a diplomatist as an engineer, and knew perfectly well how to handle a case in the witness-box so as to leave no loophole for his opponents to take advantage of. At the same time he was a perfectly honest witness, and while he avoided saying more than was necessary for the advancement of the cause in which he was engaged, he would have scorned to say or imply anything by his evidence inconsistent with strict truth.

'Although he had attained to great celebrity as a witness, the committee room being crowded to hear him, he always declined to engage in the very lucrative work of a professional witness. He made a rule never to appear except on behalf of undertakings of which he was the engineer, or with which his own companies were interested. To help a friend, he occasionally but very rarely broke through this resolve; but, whether he appeared in support of his own plans or those of others, there were few, if any, professional men whose evidence carried more weight than his did before Parliamentary Committees.'

The following memorandum from Mr. George T. Clark, of Dowlais, formerly one of Mr. Brunel's a.s.sistants, contains his recollections of Mr. Brunel during the construction of the Great Western Railway:--

'I made your father's acquaintance, rather characteristically, in an unfinished tunnel of the Coal-pit Heath Railway; and when the shaft in which we were suspended cracked and seemed about to give way, I well remember the coolness with which he insisted upon completing the observations he came to make. Shortly afterwards I became, at his request, his a.s.sistant; and during the parliamentary struggle of 1835, and the subsequent organisation of the staff, and commencement of the works of the Great Western, I saw him for many hours daily, both in his office and in the field, travelled much with him, and joined him in the very moderate recreation he allowed himself.

'These two years, and the preceding year, 1834, were, I apprehend, the turning points of his life. His vigour, both of body and mind, were in their perfection. His powers were continually called forth by the obstacles he had to overcome; and the result of his examinations in the committee rooms placed him, in the opinion of the members of the legislature, and of his own profession, in the very first rank of that profession, both for talents and knowledge.

'I wish I could convey to you even a tolerable idea of your father as he was in those years, during which I knew him intimately, and saw him often under circ.u.mstances of great difficulty.