For something like half a century Brunel’s spidery timber viaducts of Cornwall constituted one of the sights of that county. The location, with its grades and curves, as carried through Cornwall, has been assailed by many critics, but it must be remembered that when Brunel penetrated the English Riviera, railway operation was very different from what it is to-day. Engines and train loads were light, while money was by no means plentiful. The engineer was compelled to achieve his object at the most moderate cost, but the very fact that he was hampered in this connection served to influence him in the accomplishment of monumental work. His timber viaducts were remarkable for the novel character of their design and their extent. In the course of sixty miles he had to span no less than thirty-four valleys in this manner, the aggregate length of the wooden structures being about four miles. The engineer adopted timber as a constructional material because it was cheaper than iron, and American oak was used extensively. Some were of great height, the St. Pinnock viaduct, for instance, carrying the train 153 feet above the bottom of the valley, while others attained great lengths, the Landore viaduct measuring 1,760 feet from end to end. These evidences of Brunel’s work, however, are disappearing under the exigencies of to-day. Timber is being replaced by steel and granite to meet the increased weights and speeds of trains. The location through the county also is undergoing revision, the sharp curves introduced by Brunel being eased or eliminated, while the grades are being flattened. Consequently in a few years the name of Brunel in Cornwall will be naught but a memory. Fortunately other evidences of his handiwork abound on this system notably in the Saltash, Chepstow and Maidenhead bridges, as well as the Box and Foxwood tunnels. In Ireland, however, a far more daring expression of his skill is offered. This is the stretch of line along the seashore between Bray and Wicklow, which now forms part of the Dublin & South-Eastern railway. This was the first stretch of iron road to be opened in the Emerald Isle, the original one and three-quarter miles being operated in the first instance by the system of atmospheric propulsion, whereby the train was hauled along the metals by suction.