passing through Darlington and Barnard Castle; but it was starved off the road for want of support. There was then very little intercourse between the towns, though they were so near to each other, and comparatively so populous; and it was not known whether people would trust themselves to the iron road. Nevertheless, it was determined to make trial of a railway coach, and George Stephenson was authorized 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 a showman's caravan 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. This coach arrived from Newcastle on the day before the opening, and formed part of the procession above described. Stephenson was consulted as to the name of the coach, and he at once suggested the "Experiment;" and by this name it was called. Such was the sole passenger-carrying stock of the Stockton and Darlington Company in the year 1825. But "The Experiment" proved the forerunner of a mighty traffic; and long time did not elapse before it was displaced, not only by improved coaches (still drawn by horses), but afterward by long trains of passenger-carriages drawn by locomotive engines. The "Experiment" was fairly started as a passenger-coach on the 10th of October, 1825, a fortnight after the opening of the line. It was drawn by one horse, and performed a journey daily each way between the two towns, accomplishing the distance of twelve miles in about two hours. The fare charged was a shilling, without distinction of class; and each passenger was allowed fourteen pounds of luggage free. The "Experiment" was not, however, worked by the company, but was let to contractors, who worked it under an arrangement whereby toll was paid for the use of the line, rent of booking-cabins, etc.[57] [Illustration: THE FIRST RAILWAY COACH.]