materially increased in weight, owing to the carriage of third-class
passengers by all (except a few special) trains, and also to the lowering
of fares and consequent more frequent traveling, but the speed, and
therefore the duty of the engines, is greatly enhanced. A "Bradshaw's
Guide" of thirty-five years ago is now a rare book, but it is very
interesting to glance over its pages, and in doing so it will be found
that the fastest speed in all cases but one falls far short of that which
obtains at present. The following table will show what the alteration has
been:

_________________________________________________________________
| 1849. | 1884. |
|Speed miles|Speed miles|
| per hour. | per hour. |
-----------------------------------------+-----------+-----------+
Great Western--London to Didcot. | 56 | -- |
" " to Swindon. | -- | 53 |
North-Western--Euston to Wolverton. | 37 | -- |
" Northampton to Willesden. | -- | 51½ |
South-Western--Waterloo to Farnborough. | 39 | -- |
" Yeovil to Exeter. | -- | 46 |
Brighton--London Bridge to Reigate. | 36 | -- |
" Victoria to Eastbourne. | -- | 45 |
Midland--Derby to Masborough. | 43 | -- |
" London to Kettering. | -- | 47 |
North-Eastern--York to Darlington. | 38 | -- |
" " | -- | 50 |
Great Eastern--London to Broxbourne. | 29 | -- |
" Lincoln to Spalding. | -- | 49 |
Great Northern--King's Cross to Grantham.| -- | 51 |