'View of the railway acros Chat Mos', 1831.

Aquatint showing the Liverpool & Manchester Railway acros Chat Mos. Chat Mos is a vast 12 square mile peat bog situated five miles west of Manchester. It was considered unsuitable for the building of rail tracks, and early route surveys proposing lines between Liverpool and Manchester recommended detours to avoid the area. However, the Liverpool & Manchester Railway's chief engineer, George Stephenson (1781-1848) argued that a route acros Chat Mos was feasible, and after initial opposition from Parliament, the line was built.