His first attempt was at Birkenhead, in 1860; and three years later he laid down a line, four miles long, from Hanley to Burslem, in Staffordshire, and also a short one at Darlington. In the year 1861 he constructed a line from the Marble Arch along the Uxbridge Road, and another from Westminster Bridge to Kennington Park. The track was ballasted, not paved, and the macadam very soon “rutted” on each side of the rail; but the worst feature was that the tread of the rail being an inch below the road surface, the wheels of vehicles were seriously injured and sometimes wrenched clean off as they endeavoured to leave the lines. A tremendous agitation ensued against the tramway system. Train’s rails were compulsorily taken up, and his ideas were dismissed as impracticable. Yet the bread had been cast upon the waters, destined to be found much later on, but not by George Francis Train. For ten years after the Birkenhead line was laid down, tramways remained in a very primitive condition, the sole aim being to obtain a smooth track, and so lessen the wear and tear caused by the uneven macadam. The rolling-stock was crude in the extreme, and the rails were fastened down to longitudinal sleepers, so that the spikes invariably worked up, but this defect was remedied when steel girders came into use. The trams were, of course, drawn by horses, for until 1880 no better means of traction appears to have been thought of. Nobody was a bit interested in the tramways, and carriage-folk detested them, so they were banished to the outskirts of the City and “over the water.” The West End recognised them not, except to sign petitions against their introduction. The “poor man’s street railway,” it affirmed, must keep its proper place in the south, the far north, and the far east of London. It was left to private enterprise to run the lines, and practically four companies--the North Metropolitan, the London Street Tramways, the South London Company, and the London Tramways Company--monopolised the business, there being no enterprising London County Council to compete with. VARIOUS METHODS OF HAULAGE For a decade--up to 1890--all kinds of improved methods of haulage were tried: compressed air, coiled springs, underground cables (a well-known example of which was the Highgate line, which was always breaking down), and, lastly, gas traction and steam traction. To all these methods there are serious objections. Horse traction is expensive, besides being distressingly trying to the animals themselves. It is necessary to keep up a large stud for each car, and the horses when idle are eating their heads off. Their fullest speed with the heavy cars is necessarily low. Starting is a slow process, and at the best the rate of progress (including stoppages) does not exceed four miles an hour.