This was opposed
most violently by partisans of the broad gauge, and they had
sufficient influence in Parliament to prevent our recommendation from
being carried into effect. But the policy, even of the Great Western
Railway (in which the broad gauge originated), has supported our
views: the narrow gauge has been gradually substituted for the broad:
and the broad now (1872) scarcely exists.--On June 20th Lord Canning
enquired of me about makers for the clock in the Clock Tower of
Westminster Palace. I suggested Vulliamy, Dent, Whitehurst; and made
other suggestions: I had some correspondence with E. B. Denison, about
clocks.--I had much correspondence with Stephenson about the Tubular
Bridge over the Menai Straits. Stephenson afterwards spoke of my
assistance as having much supported him in this anxious work: on
Dec. 11th I was requested to make a Report, and to charge a fee as a
Civil Engineer; but I declined to do so. In January I went, with
George Arthur Biddell, to Portsmouth, to examine Lord Dundonald's
rotary engine as mounted in the 'Janus,' and made a Report on the same
to the Admiralty: and I made several subsequent Reports on the same
matter. The scheme was abandoned in the course of next year; the real
cause of failure, as I believe, was in the bad mounting in the ship.
Pages:
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300