It appears that, previous to the establishment of the railway, Messrs. _Walker_ and _Rastrick_, engineers, were employed by the company to visit various places where steam power was applied on railways, for the purpose of forming an estimate of the probable expense of working the railway by locomotive and by fixed power. These engineers recommended the adoption of locomotive power, and their estimate was, that the transport might be effected at the rate of .278 of a penny, or very little more than a farthing per ton per mile. In the year 1833, five years after this investigation took place, it was found that the actual cost was .625 of a penny, or something more than a halfpenny per ton per mile, being considerably above double the estimated rate. Mr. _Booth_ very properly directed his inquiries to ascertain the cause of this discrepancy, by comparing the various circumstances assumed by Messrs. _Walker_ and _Rastrick_, in making their estimate, with those under which the transport was actually effected. The first point of difference which he observed was the speed of transport: the estimate was founded on an assumed _speed_ of ten miles an hour, and it was stated that a fourfold speed would require an addition of 50 per cent. to the power, without taking into account wear and tear. Now the actual speed of transport being double the speed assumed in the statement, Mr. _Booth_ holds it to be necessary to add 25 per cent. on that score. The next point of difference is in the amount of the loads: the estimate is founded upon the assumption, that every engine shall start with its full complement of load, and that with this it shall go the whole distance. "The facts, however, are," says Mr. _Booth_, "that, instead of a _full load_ of profitable carriage _from_ Manchester, about half the wagons _come back empty_, and, instead of the tonnage being conveyed the whole way, many thousand tons are conveyed only half the way; also, instead of the daily work being uniform, it is extremely fluctuating." It is further remarked, that in order to accomplish the transport of goods from the branches and from intermediate places, engines are despatched several times a day, from both ends of the line, _to clear the road_; the object of this arrangement being rather to lay the foundation of a beneficial intercourse in future, than with a view to any immediate profit. Mr. _Booth_ makes a rough estimate of the disadvantages arising from these circumstances by stating them at 33 per cent. in addition to the original estimate. The next point of difference is the fuel. In the original estimate _coal_ is assumed as the fuel, and it is taken at the price of five shillings and tenpence per ton: now the act of parliament forbids the use of coal which would produce smoke; the company have, therefore, been obliged to use _coke_, at seventeen shillings and sixpence a ton. Taking coke, then, to be equivalent to coal, ton for ton, this would add .162 to the original estimate.