in conclusion we need only say that the locomotive under notice is
altogether a very interesting example of an engine designed for
specially heavy work.--_Engineering_.

* * * * *




THE MERSEY RAILWAY TUNNEL.


The work of connecting Liverpool with Birkenhead by means of a railway
tunnel is now an almost certain success. It is probable that the entire
cost of the tunnel works will amount to about half a million sterling.
The first step was taken about three years ago, when shafts were sunk
simultaneously on both sides of the Mersey. The engineers intrusted
with the plans were Messrs. Brunlees & Fox, and they have now as their
resident representative Mr. A.H. Irvine, C.E. The contractor for the
entire work is Mr. John Waddell, and his lieutenant in charge at both
sides of the river is Mr. James Prentice. The post of mechanical
engineer at the works is filled by Mr. George Ginty. Under these chiefs,
a small army of nearly 700 workmen are now employed night and day at
both sides of the river in carrying out the tunnel to completion. On
the Birkenhead side, the landward excavations have reached a point
immediately under Hamilton Square, where Mr. John Laird's statue is
placed, and here there will be an underground station, the last before
crossing the river, the length of which will be about 400 feet, with up
and down platforms. Riverward on the Cheshire side, the excavators have
tunneled to a point considerably beyond the line of the Woodside Stage;