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Stephenson had no shortage of detractors. In a treatise on building
railways published in 1835, engineer Thomas Tredgold wrote that the possibility
of “any general systems of conveying passengers . . . at a velocity exceeding 10
miles an hour, or thereabouts, is extremely improbable”. More splendidly flawed
insights from eminent experts can be read at
http://www.foresight.org/News/negativeComments.html.

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