CANADIAN AND AUSTRALIAN RAILWAYS—THE RAILWAYS OF OTHER BRITISH COLONIES.

The progress of Canada—we speak of the whole dominion recently created by the confederation of Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick[110]—has been marvellous, and in no respect, perhaps, has the growth of the country shown itself in a more marked manner than in the development of its railway system. It was in 1848, or almost immediately after the completion of the magnificent canal system of Canada proper, and by which vessels of 800 tons could pass from the ocean to Lake Ontario, and vice versÂ, that the Canadians discovered it was necessary, notwithstanding their unrivalled inland navigation, to combine with it an equally good railway communication—that was if they were to continue to be the carriers of the products of the western states through the valley of the St. Lawrence. They found that their neighbours to the south had commenced their railways in all directions, but more particularly to connect the cities on the Atlantic Coast with the Western Lakes, and accordingly in 1849 an Act was passed by the Canadian Government pledging a 6 per cent. guarantee on one-half the cost of all railways made under its provisions. Under this Act, the Northern Railway, which runs from Toronto to Collingwood, the Great Western Railway, which runs from Windsor on the Detroit River (opposite Detroit) to the Niagara River, and the St. Lawrence and Atlantic, now forming part of the Grand Trunk line, running from Montreal to Portland, were commenced. In 1852, however, the Government, fearing the effect of an indiscriminate guarantee, repealed the law of 1849, and passed an Act guaranteeing one-half of the cost of one main trunk line of railway throughout the province, and it was under this Act that the Grand Trunk Railway was projected. These terms were subsequently modified by granting a fixed sum of £3,000 per mile of railway forming part of the main trunk line. It is true that prior to these dates railways existed in Canada. There was, for example, the horse railway from La Prairie, nine miles above Montreal, to St. John’s, on the Richelieu River, which was opened in July, 1836, and was first worked with locomotives in 1837. There was also the horse railway between Queenstown and Chippewa, which was opened in 1839; but with these exceptions and the length of the Lachine Railway, a line running from Montreal for seven miles to the westward, the railway system of Canada cannot be said to have commenced until after the passing of the Railway Act in 1849, and even then it was not for about a year that any substantial progress was made. But after that date the works of the several lines were pushed forward rapidly, and in 1853 the lines from Montreal to Sherbrooke, from Toronto to Bradford, and from Hamilton to Suspension Bridge were opened. In 1854 the line between Montreal and Quebec was opened, the first train having carried Lord Elgin, who was then en route to England. In the same year the Great Western Railway[111] was finished to Windsor, and in the two following years the whole line from Montreal to Toronto, and thence to London was constructed, and in 1859 the entire Canadian Railway system was completed, including the keystone of its arch, the Victoria Bridge, the details of the construction of which will he found in a subsequent page.

Whilst, as has been already explained, the Government of Canada owns no portion of the 2,148 miles of railroad now constructed, although the moneys granted in their aid amount to upwards of £6,000,000, Nova Scotia has built and owns all the railways constructed in that province. They consist of a trunk line from Halifax on the Atlantic, by way of Truro, to Pictou, in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, with a branch line to Windsor, in the Bay of Fundy. The distance from Halifax to Truro is sixty miles, and from the main line to Windsor thirty-three miles. From Truro to Pictou the distance is also about sixty miles. The railways to both these points were completed in 1858; the total cost of construction, including the extension to Pictou, being a little over £8,000,000. The line from Halifax to Pictou was originally intended to form part of the European and British North American Railway, running from Halifax to the Great Lakes through British territory, and this has now all been accomplished, with the exception of the intermediate link through New Brunswick, from the St. Lawrence River to the Bay of Fundy. This incompleted section, the projected Intercolonial Railway will now fill in, so that within three years from the present time the dominion of Canada will have direct railway communication between its extreme limits—that is to say, the iron road will be laid between the ocean and the Great Lakes.

New Brunswick, like her sister maritime province, also owns a railway, being the line from St. John to Shediac—a distance of 108 miles. It is called the European and North American, and it is intended to extend the line westwards from St. John to the boundary line of the State of Maine, the present railways of that State being in like manner extended until a junction is effected between the two systems. With the completion of these extensions and the construction of the Intercolonial Railway, a passenger landing at Halifax will be able to take his train to any city in the States or in the Dominions. In addition to the European and North American Railway, New Brunswick possesses two other lines—the New Brunswick and Canada, eighty-eight miles long, running from St. Andrews to Woodstock, and the St. Stephen’s branch railway, a short line of eighteen miles in length. It is not unlikely that some portion of the Woodstock line may be utilised as part of the Intercolonial Railway; but, until the route of the latter is finally settled, it is impossible to say whether this will be so or not.

From the foregoing figures it will be seen that, whilst in 1852 Canada could only boast of thirty miles of railway, she has now, including the railways of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, 2,495 miles. The population of the dominion is estimated at 4,000,000, so that, with the exception of the United States, which possess a little more than a mile of railway for about every thousand inhabitants, the rate of Canada, which is nearly five-eighths of a mile for the same proportion of population, shows a greater mileage system per head of population than any other country.

The following is the length and cost of the several railways in the dominion:—

The magnificent harbour of Halifax—than which there is none finer in the world—will, on the completion of the Intercolonial Railway, be the Atlantic terminus of the Canadian system of railways—a system that will yet extend across the Rocky Mountains to British Columbia; and there, ere long, will be seen the lumber from New Brunswick, Maine, and Canada, the beef, pork, wheat, flour, and corn of Western Canada and the Western States, with the other products—

From the forests and the prairies,
From the great lakes of the northland,
From the land of the Ojibways,
From the land of the Dacotahs,
From the mountains, moors, and fenlands,

all being transhipped for consumption in our Cis-Atlantic markets.

Australia has not made as rapid progress in respect of the construction of railways as might perhaps be expected. She has not, however, been altogether unmindful of her interests in this respect. Of the four great modern divisions of the Australian Continent, New South Wales had, at the commencement of the present year, 263 miles, and the expenditure upon them had been £2,746,373; Victoria, 272, with an expenditure of £9,905,634; Queensland, 78, with an expenditure of £617,658; and South Australia, 56. The expenditure for railways in this last-named colony is not stated in the returns before us. It will thus be seen that the aggregate length of the Australian railways is 669 miles.

In the New South Wales Province there are three main lines, all of which commence at Sydney—the Great Southern, the Great Western, and the Great Northern. The first is to extend through Goulburn to the Murray River at Albury. Although some of the works on this line are very heavy, and there is a long tunnel to complete through the Gibraltar Mountains, it is, nevertheless, expected that the line will be completed in 1868. The Great Northern will extend to Muswell Brook on the Hunter River, sixty miles north-west of Maitland, and 153 miles from Sydney. The third, or Great Western Line, is to extend to Bathurst on the Macquarie River, 122 miles from Sydney. New South Wales has its Windsor and its Richmond, and these places are accommodated with railway communication from Sydney. When the several lines now open, and those now in process of construction, are completed, the Colony will have 500 miles of railway within its limits.[112]

The Victorian railways consist of two main lines, one from Melboure to Castlemain (Mount Alexander Goldfields) and Sandhurst (Bendigo Goldfields), 101 miles long, and the other from Melbourne to Geelong and Ballarat, with a branch to Williamstown (the Port of Melbourne). The total length of this second line is ninety-six miles. The Geelong and Melbourne Railway was purchased from the shareholders by the Government in 1860. An extension from Sandhurst to the Murray River at Echuca, fifty-six miles long, is in progress, and will be opened next year. Echuca is 150 miles distant from Albury, the terminus on the Murray River of the intended southern extension of the New South Wales Railways. There will, therefore, not be direct railway communication between Sydney and Melbourne, at all events for the present. The gauge of the New South Wales and Victorian Railways is 5 feet 3 inches.

The railways of Queensland consist of two main trunk lines, one for the southern districts from Brisbane, at the head of the Moreton Bay Navigation, and one for the northern districts from Rockhampton, at the head of the navigation at Keppel Bay, running nearly due west into the interior, passing through Westwood and other townships, and traversing the extensive Leichhardt district, whence it will be eventually extended to Claremont, a township of the Peak Downs, distant 220 miles from Rockhampton. This extension, when completed, will open out a vast territory, and will give the same facilities for the inhabitants of the province to transport their enormous yields of wool to the sea-board as India now possesses for its cotton. The first section of this railway from Rockhampton is on the eve of completion.

As regards the Southern line, it has been open more than a year from Brisbane to Ipswich. Its extension to Toowoomba (sixty-two miles) will, it is expected, be ready for traffic early next year; and later, two forks, one extending north-west towards Dalby, and the other south-west to Warwick, in the direction of Dumaresq River, which forms the boundary between the southern inhabited portion of Queensland and the northern of New South Wales, will be completed.

The gauge of the Queensland railways is 3 feet 6 inches, and the reason for its adoption in these narrow proportions was to save the great additional cost which construction on a wider gauge would have entailed in passing through the extremely difficult country between Ipswich and Toowoomba. Two ridges of hills have to be crossed, one 700 feet and the other 1,400 feet above the level of the land at their bases. The main range incline is sixteen miles long, and upon it there are eleven tunnels, the longest of which is over three-quarters of a mile, all of which require lining with stone or brick. The total number of bridges is 47; their total length is 5,196 feet, or 84 feet less than a mile. In one locality they are so crowded together, that there are eight in three-quarters of a mile. The longest is 535 feet, the greatest in height is 73 feet over the rails. The steepest gradient is 1 in 50; the longest at that rate of inclination is 1,820 yards; the total length of 1 in 50 is 4 miles 280 yards. The average gradient of both inclines is 1 in 70.

On the lesser range there are two tunnels, one of 586 yards, and the other 120 yards, on a curve of 120 yards, or five chains radius. The low-lying country at the base of these two mountain ranges is intersected by streams and water-courses, which in the wet season become roaring torrents, overflowing their banks, and thus necessitating an amount of bridging and water-ways as great as, for a like distance, in any other country of the world. Notwithstanding these heavy works, the passages through the mountain have been constructed at a cost of about £15,000 a mile. On the lengths presenting only ordinary difficulties they have been made at about £6,000 a mile.

The South Australian Railway extends from Adelaide in the direction towards Murray River, not far from where it flows into Lake Alexandra.

The number of passengers conveyed on Victorian lines in 1866 was very great—3,361,312. They also transported 482,314 tons of goods. The number of passengers carried on the New South Wales railways was 751,587; but the amount of goods was nearly equal to that on the Victorian lines—416,707. The South Australian carried on its fifty-six miles of railway 402,550 passengers and 261,183 tons of goods.[113] Owing to the failure of the harvest, there has been a considerable falling off in the business of the South Australian railways in 1866.

New Zealand opened its first railway—from Christchurch to Lyttelton—six miles in length, in the summer of 1867. Further reference will be made to this railway in a subsequent page. Tasmania is also becoming alive to the importance of its having railways running from its sea-boards to the interior.

Railways have made progress in some of the other colonies of great Britain. The oldest British railway, out of the United Kingdom, is the Demerara Railway. The company was constituted so far back as 1844 for the construction of various lines, including one from George Town to Mahaica, a length of twenty miles. This is the only railway as yet open in the colony. It is, however, prospering, the receipts having increased very much during late years. Its total cost has been about £320,000; £115,000 is 6 per cent. preference capital. The ordinary capital now earns a dividend of 3 per cent.

The Jamaica Railway Company is entitled to be spoken of with respect, for it stands in the unique position of having “its capital closed, no money has been borrowed, and the railway is entirely free from debt.” The capital upon which dividend is payable is £150,000; but, owing to the discount at which nearly half the share capital was issued, the actual money received was only £96,675. The railway was opened for traffic in 1850. Its length is sixteen miles. It runs from Kingston to Spanish Town, the seat of the Colonial Government, and thence to the Angels. At Kingston the company possesses a wharf suitable for receiving the largest vessels alongside it. The dividends have never exceeded £1. 10s. per cent. per annum; they are usually not more than half that amount.

Notwithstanding that the Secretary of State for the Colonies has sanctioned a guarantee of 6 per cent. on £300,000 by the Colonial Government for the construction of a railway through the isle of Trinidad, no progress has been made with the works, and the line is in abeyance for the present.

Central American Honduras—not a British Colony, notwithstanding that its imports and exports appear in the statistical abstract of the Board of Trade “for the several Colonies and other Possessions of the United Kingdom”—is about to have a railway constructed immediately across its territory, from the Carribean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. For this purpose the Honduras Government has recently introduced with success on the London and Paris markets a loan for £1,000,000 sterling, under special treaties between England, France, and the United States. The line (about 150 miles long) has been surveyed, on the part of the British Government, by Colonel Stanton and a detachment of the Royal Engineers, sent out from England for the purpose. As regards interoceanic communication, the line will be of great importance, as it will effect a saving of 1,300 miles, or five days, between the Atlantic and Pacific ports, as compared with the Panama route. The harbours at the respective termini—viz., Puerto Caballos on the Carribean Sea, and the Bay of Fonseca on the Pacific, are capacious and safe, affording every facility for direct embarkation and disembarkation.

Proceeding to Africa, we have the Cape Railway, the terminus of which is at Cape Town. The total length of its lines in operation is sixty-three miles. The Cape of Good Hope Government guarantees 6 per cent. upon a sum not exceeding £500,000, and “it is to be considered as a rate in aid towards making a dividend of 6 per cent.” The net dividend and the guarantee combined only yield 4 per cent. on the gross capital, which, at the date of the last report issued by the company in October, 1867, was £746,722. This railway has suffered severely in its traffic, in consequence of the great commercial depression in the colony during the last two years, but its prospects are now reviving. The Directors have recently completed arrangements with the Colonial Government for the construction of further extensions.

The young and enterprising colony of Natal contemplates (as yet it has done nothing more) two lines of railway, one from Durban to Maritzburg, which will be about sixty-nine miles long, and a mineral line from Durban to Zuguela. Its length would be sixty-nine miles, and it would run through districts said to abound in fine coal, limestone, and iron.

The Island of Mauritius has a railway consisting of two portions, each having its terminus in common at Port Louis. The northern line is 36½ miles long, and the Midland 34 miles. They are now both open in their entire lengths. The traffic is reported to be highly satisfactory, and in advance of the expectations which had been formed of it. The cost of the whole 70½ miles has been about £1,300,000, of which the Government advanced £300,000 out of its accumulated surplus revenue. The balance of the capital has been principally found in England.

Shortly after the British Government took possession of Ceylon, at the invitations of the native chiefs, the formation of a large system of roads through the principal parts of the island was decided upon. These, as well as several canals, were constructed at heavy cost, for the country is extremely difficult and mountainous in several parts. Now the railway is beginning to supersede the old roads, and in a few years more there will be a tolerably comprehensive net-work throughout the island. From Colombo, its capital, situated on the west-coast of the island, to the foot of the incline over the Allagalla Mountain, the peak of which is 8,400 feet above the level of the sea, the line has been opened since the early part of 1867. Its length is fifty-three miles, and it is expected that before the close of the year the whole line to Candy will be completed. The railway will subsequently be extended from Candy to Trincomalee.

Of the small islands in the vicinity of the British coast, the only one which as yet has railways, is the beautiful little Isle of Wight, the climate of which is said to be the most salubrious of any part of Great Britain. It is, at its nearest point, about 85 miles from London, and, thanks to express trains and rapid steamboats, it is not farther in time than three hours, vi Portsmouth or Stokes Bay, to Ryde, or vi Southampton and the Solent, to Cowes. For an island, the length of which is only 22 miles, and the extreme breadth (as nearly as possible at its centre) 13 miles, the whole of which is necessarily, from its picturesque character, extremely undulating, it is very abundantly supplied with railways. The most important, and the most costly is the Isle of Wight Railway, running from Ryde to Ventnor, with its long tunnel near the latter place. The length of this railway is 12 miles, and the last section (through the tunnel) was opened for traffic in October 1866. By recent enactments, the company has obtained powers to construct 26 miles of extensions, so as, by means of them, to connect with the Newport and Cowes Line (5¼ miles long), and thus to establish a sufficient net-work of railways over the frequented portions of the island.

The Isle of Man is about to construct a railway, which is to run from Douglas, its capital, into the interior of the island.

There are no railways in Jersey or Guernsey, although possibly one may be soon made in the former island, from St. Helier’s to St. Aubin’s. Its length would be five or six miles, and, from a cursory inspection of it on the occasion of a visit we made to the island a couple of years ago, there appear to be abundant elements for traffic, if the line were cheaply constructed. The expense of carrying it farther from the capital would not be justifiable, both on account of the expensive works that would be necessary, and the comparatively small traffic, except during the tourist season. Then it is very considerable.

We have now brought our Rambles on British Railways to a conclusion.