What follows sounds pretty gorey - I wonder if similar care was taken
during the Midland constuction:

E.D. Wivens wrote:
In 'The Condition of the Working-class in England in 1844'Friedrich
Engels describes the building of a railway *through* the pauper burial
ground on the banks of the River Irk near Manchester.

His description of the works, (which included some pile-driving
operations), ends "The disgusting brutality which accompanied this
work I cannot describe in further detail."

(original post at
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....06a01d61?hl=en)