The railway industry is now well over one hundred years old, and travelling over the Home lines one secures abundant and striking evidence of the thorough manner in which the pioneers tackled the engineering problems of their day. Actually, there are innumerable engineering structures, such as bridges, viaducts and tunnels, which have been serving us for a hundred years or more, and in a recent run over the Great Western system the writer renewed acquaintance with several of these century-old structures.

A most interesting viaduct, constructed exactly one hundred years ago, is the Wharncliffe Viaduct, at Hanwell, near London. This is 896 feet long and 65 feet high. It consists of eight semi-elliptical brick arches of 70 ft. span, springing from piers each composed of twin stone-capped pillars united by a heavy architrave. Originally built for two tracks, the Wharncliffe Viaduct was widened about fifty years ago, to take four tracks. Another ancient structure, not very many miles further west, is Isambard Brunel's famous brick bridge over the Thames at Maidenhead. This consists of two main arches in brickwork, 128 ft. span, with a rise of only 24 ft. 3 in. The design is most unconventional, the flat arches in brickwork being a constant source of wonder and admiration. In Devon and Cornwall, there were, until recently, many century-old timber viaducts in use. Most of these structures, however, have now been replaced by steel and stone.