On
this railway, and some others in New England, the lines are double, and
the construction and speed are nearly equal to ours.
I was informed, the proportion of severe accidents is not larger than in
Great Britain. The carriages are generally built to hold sixty or
seventy persons, who are seated two by two, one behind another, on
double rows of seats, ranged across the carriage, with room to walk
between, along the centre. The carriage in which we returned from Salem
had twenty-two seats on each side, to contain two each, or, in the
whole, eighty-eight passengers. Yet the weight of this machine would be
little more than that of an English first-class carriage, to hold
eighteen persons, and it cost probably less. Their carriages are well
ventilated in summer, and warmed by a stove in winter. Locomotive
engines approach Boston near enough to prevent the use of horses; but,
on arriving at the distance of a mile or two from New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore, the carriages and passengers are drawn in
by horses. One carriage is often specially reserved for the ladies on
the principal lines, into which gentlemen do not usually intrude, unless
they have ladies under their care.
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