ABSTRACT
Railroads shall soon traverse all this country... but, as yet, such things are non-existent in these parts, though not wholly unexpected. Preparations are afoot] Railway lines were established in the north-east of England considerably later than in the rest of the country. A line to link London with the northeast had been surveyed through Cambridge and Lincoln as early as 1827, and further surveys were carried out during the 1830s, but in the next decade plans to establish the Great Northern Railway were delayed not only by the opposition of landowners but also by the withdrawal from the scheme of Joseph Locke, the chief engineer. The Great Northern finally opened in 1850, providing the first direct link to the north-east. The line ran from King’s Cross (from 1852) via Peterborough, then digressed through Boston and Lincoln before rejoining the main line northwards to York at Retford. By 1850, 5,500 miles of railway lines were operating in Britain and Ireland and a further 6,000were scheduled to be laid (see The Railway Wonders of Last Year’, HW 1.481-2).
