dy
else, that the 0.5d. rate would effectually secure him against
competition on the part of the Company; for it was not considered
possible to lead coals at that price, and the proprietors of the railway
themselves considered that such a rate would be utterly ruinous. The
projectors never contemplated sending more than 10,000 tons a year to
Stockton, and those only for shipment as ballast; they looked for their
profits almost exclusively to the land sale. The result, however, was as
surprising to them as it must have been to Mr. Lambton. The 0.5d. rate
which was forced upon them, instead of being ruinous, proved the vital
element in the success of the railway. In the course of a few years, the
annual shipment of coal, led by the Stockton and Darlington Railway to
Stockton and Middlesborough, was more than 500,000 tons; and it has since
far exceeded this amount. Instead of being, as anticipated, a
subordinate branch of traffic, it proved, in fact, the main traffic,
while the land sale was merely subsidiary.

The anticipations of the company as to passenger traffic were in like
manner more than realised. At first, passengers were not thought of; and
it was only while the works were in progress that the starting of a
passenger coach was seriously contemplated. The number of persons
travelling between the two towns was very small; and it was not known
whether these would risk their persons upon the iron road. It was
determined, however, to make trial of a railway coach; and Mr. Stephenson
was authorised to have one built at Newcastle, at the cost of the
company. This was done accordingly; and the first railway passenger
carriage was built after our engineer's design. It was, however, a very
modest, and indeed a somewhat uncouth machine, more resembling the
caravans still to be seen at country fairs containing the "Giant and the
Dwarf" and other wonders of the world, than a passenger-coach of any
extant form. A row of seats ran along each side of the interior, and a
long deal table was fixed in the centre; the access being by means of a
door at the back end, in the manner of an omnibus.

[Picture: The First Railway Coach]

This coach arrived from Newcastle the day before the opening, and formed
part of the railway procession above described. Mr. Stephenson was
consulted as to the name of the coach, and he at once suggested "The
Experiment;" and by this name it was called. The Company's arm