"Oh," she said, "it was a great
thing, bright red, with I don't know how many wheels, and a
Large black
top, and bright shining things moving about all over it, and smoke and
steam coming out of it, and it made such an awful noise it seemed to shake
the earth."
At half-past three we entered the cars in a long shed, where there were no
officials in uniform as in England, and we found our way in as we could.
"All aboard!" is the signal for taking places, but on this occasion a loud
shout of "Tumble in for your lives!" greeted my amused ears, succeeded by
"Go a-head!" and off we went, the engineer tolling a heavy bell to notify
our approach to the passengers in the streets along which we passed.
America has certainly flourished under her motto "Go a-head!" but the
cautious "All right!" of an English guard, who waits to start till he is
sure of his ground being clear, gives one more confidence. I never
experienced the same amount of fear which is expressed by Bunn and other
writers, for, on comparing the number of accidents with the number of
miles of railway open in America, I did not find the disadvantage in point
of safety on her side. The cars are a complete novelty to an English eye.
They are twenty-five feet long, and hold about sixty persons; they have
twelve windows on either side, and two and a door at each end; a passage
runs down the middle, with chairs to hold two each on either side. There
is a small saloon for ladies with babies at one end, and a filter
containing a constant supply of iced water. There are rings along the roof
for a rope which passes through each car to the engine, so that anything
wrong can be communicated instantly to the engineer. Every car has eight
solid wheels, four being placed close together at each end, all of which
can be locked by two powerful breaks. At each end of every car is a
platform, and passengers are "prohibited from standing upon it at their
peril," as also from passing from car to car while the train is in motion;
but as no penalty attaches to this law, it is incessantly and continuously
violated, "free and enlightened citizens" being at perfect liberty to
imperil their own necks; and "poor, ignorant, benighted Britishers" soon
learn to follow their example. Persons are for ever passing backwards and
forwards, exclusive of the conductor whose business it is, and water-
carriers, book, bonbon, and peach venders. No person connected with these
railways wears a distinguishing dress, and the stations, or "depots" as
they are called, are generally of the meanest description, mere wooden
sheds, with a ticket-office very difficult to discover. If you are so
fortunate as to find a man standing at the door of the baggage-car, he
attaches copper plates to your trunks, with a number and the name of the
place you are going to upon them, giving you labels with corresponding
numbers.
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