Railway Centenary Celebration in the Homeland.

A red-letter year in railway history is 1930, marking as it does the centenary of two of the most famous of pioneer railways — the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. Next to the Stockton and Darlington system, these two ancient transportation undertakings rank as the most noteworthy of pioneer railway routes, and their opening one hundred years ago gave an impetus to railway construction the world over, while definitely demonstrating the superiority of steam traction over other existing forms of haulage.

By way of celebrating the centenary of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, an immense spectacular pageant is this month being staged in Liverpool, drawing railway folks from all parts. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway received a certain amount of notice in these pages last year on the occasion of the centenary of the Rainhill Locomotive Trials of 1829, but it may be well at the present juncture to tell briefly the story of this historic line upon which Stephenson's famous engine, the “Rocket,” made history.

It was while George Stephenson was enjoying fame in his connection with the Stockton and Darlington Railway that construction of the Liverpool and Manchester line was begun. The railway was planned as a double-track route between the two cities, to carry both passengers and merchandise. The first general meeting of the company was held on May 29th, 1826, and the same year construction work was put in hand, with George Stephenson as Chief Engineer of the undertaking. The cost of the complete work approached £820,000, and the task of the engineers proved most trying. Between Liverpool and Manchester the treacherous marshland of Chat Moss had to be crossed, and this crossing was only accomplished after the bog had been drained and an immense embankment formed of moss and vegetable deposits, upon which was placed a roadbed of broken stone to carry the rails of the new system. In all, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was 32 miles in length, and the rails employed were of wrought iron two inches in breadth and one inch thick, weighing 35lb. per yard. The victory of Stephenson's “Rocket” has previously been described in these letters, and it was this famous machine that drew the first passenger train over the Liverpool and Manchester page 21 Railway, on September 15th, 1830. In this year's centenary pageant in Liverpool there are being displayed accurate models of many pieces of equipment employed on the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and the event is undoubtedly the most important of its kind since the great centenary pageant held in connection with the Stockton and Darlington centennial in 1925.