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THE

EVOLUTM

OF THE

STEAM LOCOMOTIVE.

( i H<

BY

<i. A. SEKON

'he " llaihrny Magazine''1 and "Railway Year br of "A History of the Great \V extern Rai?tr«y,

M ING CO., LTD.,

KMPLB AVENUE, E.G. 1899.

\

«*

THE

EVOLUTION

OF THE

STEAM LOCOMOTIVE.

(1803 TO 1898.) BY

G. A. SEKON

'Editor of the J** Railway Magazine" and " Railn-ay Year Book? Author of "A History of the Great Western Railway >"

Confccm :

THE RAILWAY PUBLISHING CO., LTD., 79 TO 83, TEMPLE CHAMBERS, TEMPLE AVENUE, E.G.

1899.

PREFACE.

In connection with the marvellous growth of our railway system there is nothing of so paramount importance and interest as the evolution of the locomotive steam engine.

At the present time it is most important to place on record the actual facts, seeing that attempts have been made to disprove the correctness of the known and accepted details relative to several interesting, we might almost write historical, locomotives.

Jn this work most diligent endeavours have been made to chronicle only such statements as are actually correct, without reference to personal opinions.

In a broad sense, and taken as a whole, the old works on locomo- tive history may be accepted as substantially correct.

From these, therefore, and from authentic documents provided by the various railways, locomotive builders, and designers, together with the result of much original research, has the earlier portion of this account of the evolution of the locomotive steam engine been constructed. The various particulars of modern locomotive practice have been kindly supplied by the locomotive superintendents of the different British railways, so that no question can arise as to the strict accuracy of this portion of the work.

Nearly forty years ago it was authoritatively stated: "That kind of knowledge of the locomotive engine which answers the purpose of a well-informed man has already become so popular that it almost amounts to ignorance to be without it. Locomotive mechanism, is very simple in its elementary nature, and the mind is naturally disposed to receive and retain any adequate explanation of striking phenomena, whether mechanical or otherwise ; and hence it is that there aro thousands of persons who, although in no way concerned in the construction or working of railway engines, are nevertheless com- petent to give a fair general explanation of their structure and mode of working."

If such were true at that time it is abundantly evident that it is more so at the threshold of the 20th century, consider- ing the growth of inquiry into, and appreciation of, scientific and mechanical knowledge by an ever widening and increas- ing circle of general readers, which has been one of the marked «igns of intellectual development during recent years. Under

A2

498

iv. PREFACE

such circumstances it is not surprising that the locomotive and its history have received a large share of public attention. Whilst railway officers, with the intelligence for which they are justly dis- tinguished, have always evinced a proper desire to be acquainted with the evolution of the " steam horse," the spread of education has increased and quickened a desire for knowledge concerning the locomotive amongst all classes in a remarkable manner. Many of the numerous illustrations that embellish the book have been specially collected for the purpose, and several will be quite new to the majority of readers. Special pains have been taken to admit only such illus- trations the authenticity of which was known to the author, and for the same reason many otherwise interesting pictures, upon tne accuracy of which suspicion rested, were excluded from the collection.

Despite these exclusions, we believe that no other book on loco- motive history in the English language is so fully illustrated.

As it is proposed to deal with the railway locomotive only, it is not necessary to make more than a passing reference to the more or less crude proposals of Sir Isaac Newton, the Mar- quess of Worcester, Savery, Dr. Robinson, Leupold, and other writers and scientists, who hinted at the possibility of steam loco- motion. Nor does the writer propose to discuss the alleged use of railways and steam locomotives in Germany at a date prior to their general introduction into England. The claims of. Cugnot, Symington, Evans, Murdoch, and others as builders or designers of actual or model steam road locomotives will also be passed without discussion.

We take this opportunity of expressing our sincere thanks to the locomotive superintendents of British railways, who have all been so willing to assist the author, not only in supplying accurate data concerning the locomotives of their own design, but also fo*» so kindly revising the portions of the volume that relate to the loco- motive history of the particular railway with which each one of these gentlemen is connected.

In conclusion, we leave the " Evolution of the Steam Locomotive " to the kindly consideration of our readers, hoping that from a perusal of it they may derive both information and pleasure.

G. A. SEKON. December, 1898.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

PREFACE iii.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vi.

CHAPTER 1 1

IT 10

III.- 28

IV 40

V 56

VI 66

„ VII. ..'. 82

„ VIII 103

„ IX 130

X 156

XI. 185

„ XII 205

„ XIII , 231

„ XIV 260

„ XV 294

INDEX . 321

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGK

"§90>" the latest type of Great Northern Railway express engine Frontispiece

The First Railway Locomotive of which authentic particulars are known 3

Locomotive built by Murray for Blenkinsopp's Railway 6

Brunton's " Mechanical Traveller " Locomotive

Hackworth's " Wylam Dilly," generally known as Hedley's "Puffing Billy" 11

Hackworth's or Hedley's Second Design, used on the Wylam Rwy. in 1815 13

Stephenson's Initial Driving Gear for Locomotives 15

Stephenson and Dodd's Patent Engine, built in 1815 16

Stephenson's Improved Engine, as altered, fitted with Steel Springs ... 17

"Locomotion," the First QEngine to Run on a Public Railway 20

The First Successful Locomotive, Hackworth's "Royal George" 23

Hackworth's Blast Pipe in the "Royal George" 24

Waste Steam Pipe in Stephenson's "Rocket" 25

The "Novelty," entered by Braithwaite and Ericsson for the Rainhill Prize 29

Hackworth's " Sanspareil," one of the Competitors at Rainhill 32

Stephenson's " Rocket," the Winner of the Rainhill Prize of £500 35

Winan's " Cycloped " Horse Locomotive 38

Bury's Original "Liverpool," the First Engine with Inside Cvlinders, etc. 41

The "Invicta," Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, 1830 ... 45

The " Northumbrian," the Engine that Opened the Liverpool and Man- chester Rwy. 46

Hackworth's "Globe" for the Stockton and Darlington Railway 43

Stephenson's "Planet," Liverpool and Manchester Railway ... 49

" Wilberforce," a Stockton and Darlington Railway Locomotive 53

Galloway's "Caledonian," built for the Liverpool £ Manchester Rwy. in 1832 54

Roberts's "Experiment," with Verticle Cylinders, Bell Cranks, etc. ... 57

Hawthorn's " Comet," First Engine of the Newcastle & Carlisle Rwy., 1835 59

"Sunbeam," built by Hawthorn for the Stockton and Darlington Railway 64 The " Grasshopper," with 10ft. driving wheels, built by Mather, Dixon &

Co., for the G.W. Rwy. ... 73

The " Hurricane," with 10ft. driving wheels, a Broad-Guage Engine, built

on Harrison's System 76

The " Thunderer," a geared-up Broad-Guage Engine, built on Harrison's

Plan ... ... 78

Bury's Standard Passenger .Engine for the London and Birmingham Railway 33

" Garnet," one of the First Engines of the London and Southampton Rwy. 85

"Harpy," one of Gooch's "Firefly" Class of Broad- Gauge Engines 90

Interior of Paddington Engine House, showing the Broad-Guage Locomo- tives of 1840 92

" Jason," one of Gooch's First Type of Goods Engines for the G.W. Rwy. 93

Paton & Millar's Tank Engine, for working on* the Cowlairs Incline, Glasgow 98

Stephenson's "Long Boiler" Goods Engine, Eastern Counties Railway ... 104

Gray's Prototype of the " Jenny Lind," No. 49, London & Brighton Rwy. 10*

" Hero," a Great Western Railway Six-Coupled Broad- Gauge Goods Engine 106

The "Great Western " Broad-Gauge Engine as originally Constructed ... 107

The Original " Great Western," as Rebuilt with Two Pairs of Leading Wheels 1C9

The "Namir," the First Engine built on Crampton's Principle 112

Crampton's " London," First Engine with a Name, L. & N.W. Rwy. ... 113

fP Great Britain," one of Gooch's Famous 8ft. "Singles," G.W. Rwy. ... 114

"No. 61," London and Brighton Railway 115

The "Jenny Lind," a Famous Locomotive, built by Wilson and Co. ... 119 Trevithick's "Cornwall," with 8ft. 6in. Driving Wheels, and Boiler below

the Driving Axle 120

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Trevithick's " Cornwall," as npw Running between Liverpool and Manchester 121

" Old Copper Nob," No. 3, Furness Rwy., Oldest Locomotive now at work 1^3

The "Albion," a Locomotive built on the "Cambrian" System 127

The "Fairneld," Adams's Combinad Broad-Gauge Engine and Train ... 132

The " Enfield," Combined Engine kind Train for the Eastern Counties Hallway 134

1 lied Star," a 7ft. Single Broad-Gauge Saddle Tank Engine 136

"No. 148," L. & N.W. Rwy.; Example of Stephenson's "Long Boiler"

Engines ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 137

Adams's "Light" Locomotive for the Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway 139

England & Co.'s "Little England," Locomotive — Exhibition, London, 1851 142

Crampton's "Liverpool," London and Ncrth Western Railway 145

Timothy Hackworth's " Sanspareil, No. 2" 149

Caledonian Railway Engine, "No. 15" 153

"Mac's Mangle," No. 227, London and North Western Railway 154

" President," one of McConnell's " Bloomers," as originally built ... ... 155

One of McConnell's "Bloomers," as Rebuilt by Ramsbottom 155

The "Folkestone," a Locomotive on Crampton's System, built for the

S.E.R., 1851 159

One of J. V. Gooch's "Single" Tank Engines, Eastern Counties Railway ... 161

" Ely," a Taff Vale Railway Engine, built in 1851 163

McConnell's "300," London and North Western Railway 165

Pasey's Compressed Air Locomotive, Tried on the E.G. Rwy., 1852 ... 170 The First Type of Great Northern Railway Passenger Engine, one of the

"Little Sharps" 171

Sturrock's Masterpiece, the Famous {Great Northern Railway, "215" ... 172

Pearson's 9ft. "Single" Tank Engine, Bristol and Exeter Railway 174

One of Pearson's 9ft. " Single " Tanks, taken over by the Great Western

Railway 176

A Bristol and Exeter Railway Tank Engine, as Rebuilt (with Tender)

by the G.W.R .' 178

"Ovid," a South Devon Railway Saddle Tank Engine, with Leading Bogie 180

"Plato," a Six-Coupled Saddle Tank Banking Engine, South Devon Railway 181

The First Type of Narrow-Gauge Passenger Engines, Great Western Rwy. 182 " Robin Hood," a Broad-Gauge Express Engine, with Coupled Wheels 7ft.

in diameter , 183

North British Railway Inspection Engine, No. 879 184

The "Dane," L. and S.W.R., fitted with Beattie's Patent Apparatus for

Burning Coal 187

Cudworth's Sloping Fire Grate, for Burning Coal, as fitted to S.E.R.

Locomotives 189

" Nunthorpe," a Stockton and .Darlington Railway Passenger Engine, 1856 193

Beattie's Four-Coupled Tank Engine, London & South Western Rwy., "1857 19; Sinclair's Outside Cylinder, Four-Coupled Goods Engine, Eastern Counties

Railway (Rebuilt) 196

Six-Coupled Mineral Engine, Taff Vale Railway, built 1860 202

"Brougham," No. 160, Stockton and Darlington Railway 206

Conner's 8ft. 2in. "Single" Engine, Caledonian Railway (Rebuilt) 208

"Albion," Cambrian Railways, 1863 210

A Great Northern Railway Engine, fitted with Sturrock's Patent Steam

Tender 218

Sinclair's Design of Tank Engine for the Eastern Counties Railway 219

Beattie's Standard Goods Engine, London and South Western Railway, 1866 226

Beattie's Goods Engine, London and South Western Railway (Rebuilt) ... 227

Adams's Passenger Tank Engine, N.L. Rwy., as Rebuilt by Mr. Pryce ... 228

Pryce's Six-Coupled Tank Goods Engine, North London Railway 229

Locomotive and Travelling Crane, North London Railway ... ... ... 230

"Python," a 7ft. lin. Coupled Express Engine, L. and S.W. Rwy. ... 232

8ft. lin. "Single" Express Engine, Great Northern Railway 237

"John Ramsbottom," one of Webbs "Precedent" Class, L. & N.W. Rwy. 238

"Firefly," a London and South Western Outside Cylinder Tank Engine . . 239 "Kensington," a Four-Coupled Passenger Engine, London, Brighton and

South Coast Railway 240

" Teutonic," a London and North Western jXailway " Compound " Loco- motive on Webb's System ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 244

" Queen Empress," one of AY ebb's Compound Locomotives, L. & N.W. Rwy. 2JS

LIST OF IL UST RATIONS

PAGE

"Black Prince," L. & N.W. Railway, a Four-Coupled Four-Cylinder Com- pound Engine — ... 248

Johnson's 7ft. 9in. "Single" Engine, Midland Railway 251

"George A. Wallis," an Engine of the "Gladstone" Class, L., B. and

S.C. Railway 252

"1463," North Eastern Railway, one of the " Tennant " Locomotives ... 253

Holmes' s Type of Express Engines for the North British Railway ... 254 7ft. "Single" Engine, Great Eastern Railway, fitted with Holden's Liquid

Fuel Apparatus 25b

",No. 10," the Latest Type of Great Eastern Railway Express Engine,

Fired with Liquid Fuel 258

" Goldsmid," one of the new London, Brighton and South Coast Railway

Express Passenger Engines 261

"Inspector," London, Brighton and South Coast Railway .. 262

"No. 192," a Standard Express Passenger Locomotive, L.C. & D.Rwy. ... 263

Standard Express Passenger Engine, Cambrian Railways 264

Standard Passenger Tank Engine, Cambrian Railways 265

" No. 240," the S.E. Railway Engine that obtained the Gold Medal, Paris

Exhibition, 1889 267

Standard Goods Engine, South Eastern Railway 268

Standard Passenger Tank Locomotive, South Eastern Railway 269

Latest Type of Express Passenger Engine, South Eastern Railway 271

Adams's Standard Express Engine, London and South Western Railway ... 273 A " Windcutter " Locomotive, "No. 136," L. and S.W. Railway, fitted

with Convex Smoke-Box Door 274

Drummond's Four-Cylinder Engine, London and South Western Railway 275

Four-Coupled Passenger Engine with Leading Bogie, North British Railway 277

Holmes's Latest Type of Express Engine, North British Railway 279

Four- Wheels-Coupled Saddle Tank Engine, London & North Western Rwy. 281

Standard Express Passenger Locomotive, Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 282

Standard Eight- Wheel Passenger Tank Engine, Lancashire & Yorkshire Rwy. 233

Oil-Fired Saddle Tank Shunting Engine, Lancashire rind Yorkshire Railway 284

" Dunalastair," Caledonian Railway ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 285

One of Mclntosh's "Dunalastair 2nd" Caledonian Express Locomotives ... 237

Six- Wheels-Coupled Condensing Engine, Caledonian Railway ... ... ... 288

" Carbrook," one of Drummond's Express Engines for the Caledonian Railway 289

Mclntosh's 5ft. 9in. Condensing Tank Engine, Caledonian Railway ... ... 290

"No. 143," Taff Vale Railway Tank Loccmotive, for working on incline ... 292

A favourite Locomotive of the Isle of Wight Central Railway 293

7ft. Sin. "Single" Convertible Engine, Great Western Railway 295

"Empress of India," Standard G.W. 7ft. Sin. "Single " Express Locomotive 295

" Gooch," a Four-Coupled Express Engine, Great Western Railway 297

"Pendennis Castle," one of the Great Western "Hill Climbers" 298

"Single" Express Engine, Six- Wheel Type, Great Western Railway ... .. 300

6ft. 6in. Four-Coupled Passenger Locomotive, Great Western Railway ... 300

6ft. Four- Coupled Passenger Engine, Great Western Railway ... 301

" Barrington," New Type of Four-Coupled Engine, Great Western Railway 301

Four-Coupled- in-Front Passenger Tank Engine, Great Western Railway ... 302 "No, 1312," one of Mr. Ivafbt's (1073) Smaller Class of Four-Coupled

Bogie Engines, Great Northern Railway 304

The Latest Type of 6ft. 6in. Coupled Engine, Great Northern Railway .. 3C5 Latest Type of G.N.R. Exrvoia Locomotive; 7ft. 6in. "Single," with Inside

Cylinders, etc. 308

"No. 100," one of the " T " Class Four-Coupled Passenger Engines, Great

North of Scotland Kail way ill

Pettigrew's New Goods Engine for the Furness Railway 315

Six-Wheels-Coupled Bogie Engine, with Outside Cylinders, Highland Railway 316

Liquid Fuel Engine, Belfast and Northern. Counties Railway ... ... .. 317

"Jubilee," Four-Wheels-Coupled Compound Locomotive, Belfast and

Northern Conties Railway 518

"No. 73," Standard Passenger Engine, Great Northern Railway (Ireland)... 318

Four-Coupled Bogie Express Engine, Great Southern and Western Railway 319

'' Peake," a Locomotive of the Cork and Muskerry Light Railway .. ... 319

EVOLUTION

OF THE

STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

CHAPTER I.

Trevituick's triumph; his first steam locomotives — Mistaken for the dovil — The Coalbrookdale engine — >A successful railway journey at Merthyr Tydvil — Description of the engine — " Catch-me-who-can '' — The locomotive in London — Blenkinsopp's rack locomotive — Chapman's engine — Did Chapman build an eight-wheel locomotive? — Brimton's ''steam horse'1 — Its tragic end.

0 Richard Trevithick, the Cornish mine captain and engineer, belongs the honour of producing the first locomotive — true, his original essay was a road locomotive. As long ago as 1796 he constructed a model locomotive which ran round a room ; and on Christmas Eve, 1801, he made the initial trip with his first steam locomotive through the streets of Camborne. This machine carried several passengers at a speed in excess of the usual walking pace of a man. Trevithick was joined in the enterprise by his

cousin Vivian, who provided the money to build the steam engines, and to patent them, their first patent being dated 24th March, 1802. It is described as "for improving the construction of steam engines, and the application thereof for drawing carriages on rails a>nd turnpike roads and other purposes." It was claimed that their engine would produce " a more equable rotarjr

2 EVOLUTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

motion on the several parts of the revolution of any axis which is moved by the steam engine, by causing the piston rods of tv,ro cylinder** to work on the said axis by means of cranks, at a quarter turn asunder."

Among other improvements claimed in the specification, mention should be made of the return-tube boiler, bellows to urge the firer and a second safety valve, not under the control of the driver.

A steam carriage with these improvements was constructed, and Vivian and Trevithick commenced a journey on it from Camborne to Plymouth, from which port it was shipped to London. On tbo road to Plymouth a closed toll-bar was met, and the steam carriage stopped for the gate to be opened. " What have us got to pay here 1 " demanded Vivian. The affrighted toll-keeper, shaking in every limb, and his teeth chattering, essayed to answer, and at last said, " Ni>. — na — na — na." " What have us got to pay, I say 1 " demanded Vivian. ''Na — noth — nothing to pay, my de — dear Mr. Devil; do drive on as fast as you can. Nothing to pay."

It must be remembered that to Cornishmen of a century ago the devil was a very real personage ; and, seeing the horseless carriage proceeding with a fiery accompaniment, the poor toll-keeper thought he had at last seen his Satanic majesty. He also appears to have remembered that it is well "to be civil to everyone, the devil included; there is no knowing when you may require his good wishes." Hence the toll-keeper's reason for calling Vivian "my dear Mr. Devil."

As? early as August, 1802, R. Trevithick (according to his life, as written by his son, F. Trevithick) appears to have constructed a railway locomotive at Coalbrookdale. This engine had a boiler of cast-iron l^in. thick, with an interior return wrought-iron tube. The length of the boiler was 6ft., and the diameter 4ft. The cylinder working this engine was 7in. in diameter, the stroke being 3ft. The next railway locomotive was that constructed for the Pen-y-darren Tramroad near Myrthyr Tydvil. Of this particular locomotive (Fig. 1) H ir» possible to obtain authentic particulars, although much that is legendary already clusters around this historic locomotive. For instance, we read that the locomotive in question had a brick chimney, and that it was demolished by colliding with an overhanging branch of a tree. Then the amount of the bet between Mr, Homfray, the owner of the tramroad, and his friend, as to whether the locomotive would successfully perform a journey from Pen-y-darren to the navi-

EVOLUTION U1>' THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

.3

gallon at Plymouth, is a variable quantity. The amount staked hi3 been stated to be £500 a side, and also £1,000 a side.

It is evident that some days prior to February 10th, 1804, the engine successfully performed the journey, and that overhanging trees and rocks considerably impeded the travelling, several stoppages having to be made whilst these obstacles were removed. Mr. Homfray, how- ever, won the bet. On February 21st another trip was made by the locomotive. On this occasion the load consisted of 5 wagons, 10 tons

FIG. 1.— THE FIRST RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE OF WHICH AUTHENTIC PARTICULARS ARE KKOWN

of bar iron, and 70 passengers, the weight of the engine, with water and fuel, being 5 tons; the journey of nine miles being per- formed in 4 hours 5 minutes, including several stoppages ; the average speed when travelling being five miles an hour. On the return journey the engine hauled the empty wagons up an incline of 1 in 18 at the rate of five miles an hour. Several of the tram- plates, which weighed only 281b. per yard, were broken on the downward trip. Early in March the engine conveyed a load of 25 tons from the iron-works to the navigation.

B J

4 EVOLUTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

It will be observed that this engine from the first decided the practicability of conveying loads by means of smooth wheels on smooth rails, simply by adhesion. Yet, strange to say, for several years after, it was the firmly-fixed belief of succeeding locomo- tive constructors that it was impossible to obtain sufficient adhesion between a smooth surface and a smooth rail to successfully work a locomotive. The result was the invention of many curious method** to overcome this apparent difficulty, which, as a fact, never existed, save in the minds of the designers of the early locomotives. These men do not seem to have been fully acquainted with the results of Trevithick's experiments on the Pen-y-darren tramroad in 1804.

A description of this locomotive prototype is of interest. The boiler was cylindrical, with a flat end. The fire-door and chimney were both at the same end, an extended heating surface being obtained by means of the return tube j above the fire-door was the single horizontal cylinder, the diameter of which was 8Jin. ; a considerable portion of the cylinder was immersed in the boiler, the exposed portion being surrounded by a steam jacket. The stroke was 4ft. Gin. ! The piston-rod worked on a motion frame extending in front of the engine. At the other end of the boiler was a fly-wheel some 9ft. Gin. in diameter, the motion being con- veyed to it by connecting rods from the cross-head; a cog-wheel on the fly-wheel axle conveyed the motion by means of an inter- mediate wheel to the four driving-wheels, which are stated to have been 4ft. Gin. in diameter. The exhaust steam appears to have been turned into the chimney, not for the purpose of a blast, but only as an easy method of getting rid of the vapour. It will be remembered that Trevithick, in his patent specification, specially mentioned bellows for urging the fire, and was, therefore, not acquainted with the nature of the exhaust steam blast. It is important to bear this in mind, as the reader will find in a later chapter. Thh engine is stated to have blown up through not being provided with a safety valve, though Trevithick specially ordered one to be fixed to the boiler, but his instructions do not appear to have been carried out.

Trevithick made another locomotive, called " Catch-me-who-can." This ran on an ellipse-shaped railway specially laid down for it at Euston Square, London, and was visited by many people during the few days it wap on view. Another locomotive was constructed from the drawingb of Trevithick's Coalbrookdale locomotive of 1802, to

EVOLUTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE 5

the orders of Mr. Blackett, the owner of Wylam Collieries. This engine weighing 4^ tons, had a single cylinder Tin. diameter, 3ft. stroke, and, of course, a fly-wheel. For some reason or another this engine does not appear to have been used on the Wylam tram- road, but was used in a Newcastle foundry to blow a cupola. Mr. Armstrong, a former Locomotive* Superintendent of the Great Western Railway, was acquainted with this engine of Trevit hick's at the time it was so employed at Newcastle.

Having given an outline of Trevithick's invention of the tram- road locomotive, and the other locomotive engines designed by him, we will deal with the locomotive built for J. Blenkinsopp (Fig. 2), of the Middleton Colliery, near Leeds, who, on April 10th, 1811, obtained a patent for a self-propelling steam engine, worked by means of a cog-wheel, engaging in a rack laid side by side with one of the rails forming the tramway.

The erroneous idea that the locomotive of itself had not sufficient adhesion between the smooth wheel and the surface of the rail to propel itself and draw a load was strongly entertained by Blenkin- sopp, hence his patent rack and pinion system. Blenkinsopp having this opinion, which he published by means of his patent specification, caused succeeding inventors to fall into the same error regarding the adhesive properties of the locomotive, and consequently con- siderably retarded the development of the railway engine.

Although this engine is generally known as Blenkinsopp's, it was constructed by Matthew Murray, the Leeds engineer. The boiler was cylindrical, with slightly convex ends, a single flue ran through it, which was in front turned upwards, and SD formed tlie chimney; the fire-grate was at the other end of the flue, as in the modern locomotive.

This engine was provided with two cylinders, and was, in this respect, an improvement on Trevithick's single-cylinder engines. Tho cylinders were 8in. in diameter, and placed vertically, the major portion of them being placed within the boiler. The stroke was 20in., and the motion was conveyed by means of cross-heads, working connecting-rods; these came down to two cranks on either side below the boiler. The cranks worked two shafts fixed across the frames, on which were toothed wheels, both working into a centre toothed wheel, which was provided with large teeth, these engaged on the rack rail previously described. The cranks were set at right angles, so that one piston was exerting power when the other

6 EVOLUTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

was at its dead centre, and vice versa. The engine was supported on the rails 'by four wheels 3ft, Gin. in diameter. The two cylinders were connected by a pipe which conveyed the exhaust steam and discharged it into the atmosphere through a vertical tube. The engine weighed 5 tons, burned 751b. of coal per hour, and evaporated

FIG. 2.— LOCOMOTIVE BUILT BY MURRAY FOR BLENKINSOPP'S RAILWAY

50 gallons of water in the same time. This locomotive could haul 94 tons on the level at 3J miles an hour, or 15 tons up an incline of 1 in 15 ; its maximum speed was 10 miles an hour.. The engine cost £400 to construct, and worked from August, 1812, for a period of about 20 years, and in 1816 the Grand Duke Nicholas, afterwards Emperor of Kussia, inspected the machine. The tramway on which it worked was about 3| miles long.

In September, 1813, Murray supplied two of Blenkinsopp's engines to the Kenton Colliery.

On December 30th, 1812, a patent was granted to William and Edward Chapman for a method of locomotion. A chain was stretched along the railway and fastened at each end; connected to the

EVOLUTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE 7

locomotive by spur gear was a barrel, around which the chain was passed. When the barrel rotated, the chain was wound over it, and since the chain was secured at either end, the engine was of necessity propelled. An engine on this principle was tried on the Heaton Colliery Tramroad, near Newcastle-on-Tyne. The machine was supported on wheels travelling on the rails. The boiler was of Trevithick's design, and fanners were used to excite the combustion of the fuel. The weight of Chapman's engine was 6 tons. After e, few trials the scheme was abandoned, as it was found im- practicable to successfully work such a system. Every eight or ten yards the chain was secured by means of vertical forks, which held it when disengaged from the drum of the locomotive.

By this method the pressure of one engine on the chain was limited to the fork on either side of the drum instead of being spread over the whole length of the chain, and it would, therefore, hove been possible for several engines to have used the chain at one and the same time.

According to Luke Herbert and Lieut. Lecount, Chapman also built an 8-wheel locomotive for the Larnbton Colliery. This engine, it was stated, had vertical cylinders, and the motion was conveyed by means of spur wheels. It weighed 6 tons loaded, and drew 18 loaded wagons, of a gross weight of 54 tons, from the colliery to the shipping place on the Wear; with the above load it attained a speed of four miles an hour up an incline of 1 in 115. The dimensions and capabilities accredited to this engine appear suspici- ously similar to those related of the first Wylam locomotive.

On May 22nd, 1813, Mr. W. Brunton, of the Butterfly Ironworks, obtained a patent for a novel method of steam locomotion. This locomotive inventor was also suffering from the common belief that it was -impossible to obtain sufficient adhesion between a smooth rail and smooth wheels, despite the successes that had already been obtained in this direction by Trevithick. He therefore built an engine supported on four flanged carrying wheels, but propelled from behind by means of two legs. Indeed, another inventor con- sidered the idea of steam legs so natural that he constructed a steam road coach that was to be propelled by four legs, one pair partaking of the character and motion of the forelegs of a horse, and the other pair being fashioned on the model of the hind legs of the same quadruped.

In. Bruuton's leg-propelled steam locomotive (Fig. 3) we find

8 EVOLUTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

that the boiler was cylindrical, with a single horizontal tube passing through it, and turned up in front in a vertical position, thus forming the chimney. The motion was obtained from a single horizontal cylinder, fixed near the top of the Boiler, the piston rod projecting behind; the end of the piston rod was attached to a jointed rod, the bottom portion of which formed one of the legs. The upper portion of this rod was attached to a framework fixed above the boiler of the engine, which formed a fulcrum, and then by an ingenious arrangement of levers, an alternate motion was given to the second leg. Each leg had a foot formed of two prongs at the bottom; these stuck in the ground, and prevented the legs

FIG. 3.— BRUXTON'S "MECHANICAL TRAVELLER" LOCOMOTIVE

from slipping. Upon steam being applied, the piston in the ordinary way would have travelled to the end of the cylinder, but the leg, having a firm hold of the ground, presented a greater resistance to the steam than did the weight of the engine, so the steam acting on the surface that presented the lesser resistance, caused the cylinder to recede, and with it the engine, to which it was, of course, firmly attached. By means of the reciprocating levers, a horizontal rod travelled on the top of the boiler and

EVOLUTIOX OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE 9

over a cog-wheel; then 011 the other side of this cog-wheel was another horizontal rod, which, actuated by the cog-wheel, travelled in a contrary direction, and being attached to the other leg of the engine, as the machine receded from the first leg, it drew the second leg close up to the back of the engine. The second leg was now ready to propel the engine, which it did upon the steam being applied to the other side of the piston, and the process was alternated with each admission of steam to the front or back of the piston.

Whilst the legs were returning towards the engine the feet were raised by means of straps or ropes fastened to the legs and passing over friction-wheels, movable in one direction only by a ratchet and cafch, and worked by the motion of the engine.

Brunton called his locomotive a "mechanical traveller," and stated that the boiler was of wrought-iron, 5ft. Gin. long and 3ft. dia- meter, weighing 2J tons, stroke of piston, 2ft., and at 2J miles per hour, with a steam pressure of 451b. per square inch, was equal in power to nearly six horses. This locomotive curiosity blew up at Newbottle in 1816, and about a dozen people were thereby either killed or seriously injured.

CHAPTER II.

Who is entitled to the honour of constructing the Wylam locomotives? — The claims of Hackworth, Hedley und Foster— " Puffing Billy "—Rebuilt as an eight-wheel <ngine — Stewart's locomotive — Sharp practice causes Stewart to abandon locomotive building — George Stephenson as a locomotive builder — His hazy views as to his first engine — " Blucher " — The German General proves a failure — Steo'lieiison and Dodd's engine — Stephenson's third engine, with (so-called) steam springs — Competent critics condemn Stephenson's engines — The " Koyal William " — The "Locomotion " — Hackworth, General Manager of the Stockton end Darlington Railway— Horse haulage cheaper than Stephenson's locomotives — Hackworth to the rescue — The " Royal George," the first successful locomotive — The "exhaust" stoam blast- Rival olaim-mts raid its invention — Locomotive versus stationary engine- - " Twin Sisters "— " Lancashire Witch "— " Agenoria " — The " Maniac," " a Forth Street production."

WE have now arrived at a point in the evolution of the steam locomotive where the claims of several men are in competition. The facts as to the experiments and construction of the engines at Wylam are not disputed. The question at issue is as to whom the honour of the success should be given. Christopher Blackett, of the Wylam Colliery, as previously stated, ordered a locomotive of Trevithick, but never used it. He, however, determined to make a trial of steam haulage on his plate way, and in 1811 some kind of experi- ments were made, having in view the above-mentioned object. At this time Timothy Hackworth was foreman of the smiths (he would now be called an engineer), and William Hedley was coal-viewer at Wylam. The friends of both Hackworth and Hedley claim for their respective heroes the honour of these early essays in locomotive construction. But it is probable the honours should be shared by both, as well as by Jonathan Foster, who also assisted in the experi- ments and construction of the Wylam locomotives.

Hedley was colliery-viewer at Wylam, and therefore, most likely, Hackworth was, to an extent, under his orders, and probably had to defer to, and act under, the instructions of Hedley.

But Hackworth's position as foreman-smith did not preclude him from making suggestions and introducing improvements of his own into the locomotives under construction.

It is stated that Hedley was jealous because Hackworth obtained

EVOLUTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

11

the praise for building the Wylam locomotives (or " Timothy's Dillies,'' as they were locally called), and to force Hackworth to leave Wylam, Hedley required him to do some repairs to the machinery on Sundays. Now, Timothy was a fervent Wesleyan, and spent his Sundays in local preaching, so he naturally refused to violate his conscience by working on that day. Consequently Hackworth sought employment •elsewhere.

FlQ. 4.— HACKWOKTH'S "WYLAM DILLY," GENERALLY KNOWN AS HEDLEY'S "PUFFING BILLY"

On the other hand, it was a sore point with Hackworth that George Stephenson. spent his Sundays at Wylam taking sketches and par- ticulars of the locomotives at that time at work on the Wylam Rail- way, the result of which observations was apparent in the locomotive built by Stephenson at Killingworth in 1814.

The Wylam experimentalists in October, 1812, constructed a four- wheel vehicle driven by manual power working cranks connected with spur wheels. The carriage was loaded until sufficient weight had been placed upon it to cause the wheels to turn round without

12 EVOLUTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

The experiment, however, satisfied Mr. Blackett that locomotive engines with smooth wheels could be employed in drawing loads on his tramroad; and the construction of an engine was immediately proceeded with. This was completed and put to work early in 1813. It had a . cast-iron boiler, . and a single internal flue; the solitary cylinder was Gin. in diameter, and a fly-wheel was employed after the model of Trevithick's engine. The steam pressure was 501b. This four-wheel engine drew six coal trucks at five miles an hour, and, therefore, did the work of three horses — not a very powerful example of a steam locomotive, it will be observed. This engine being some- what of a failure, it was decided to build another, and one- with a wrought-iron boiler and a return tube was constructed. In his engine (Fig. 4) it will be noticed the fire-box and chimney were both at the same end of the 'boiler. Two vertical cylinders were fixed over the trailing wheels of "Puffing Billy" (for it is this historical loco- motive, no'W preserved in the South Kensington Museum, that is now being described). The piston rods were connected to beams of the ".Grasshopper" pattern, being both centred at the funnel end *.i the engine. The driving rods were connected with these beams at about their centres, and passed down to spur wheels, which, by means of toothed wheels on either side, communicated the motion, to the four carrying wheels. The spent steam was conveyed from the cylinders to the chimney by means of two horizontal pipes laid along the top of the boiler. It was soon discovered that the cast- iron tram-plates, which were only of four square inch section, were unable to bear the weight of " Puffing Billy," and another change was decided upon.

The engine was therefore placed on two four-wheel trucks (Fig. 5), so • that the weight was distributed on eight instead of four wheels, the same method of spur gearing was employed, and the whole of the wheels were actuated by means of intermediate cog-wheels. To prevent, as far as possible, the noise caused by the escaping steam, a vertical cylinder was fixed on the top of the boiler between the cylinders and the funnel. Into this chamber the spent steam was discharged, and from it the same was allowed to escape gradually into the chimney. In addition to the improvement of a return tube, with its extended heating surface, with which this class of engine was provided, the funnel was only 12in. in diameter, as compared with 22in. diameter as used by Stephenson in his early engines. As already stated, the

EVOLUTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

13

Wylarn locomotives were locally called "Timothy's Billies," after Timothy Hackworth, to TV hose inventive genius they were popularly ascribed. In 1830, the cast-iron plates on the road from Wylam to Leamington were removed, and the course was relaid with edge rails, so that the necessity for eight-wheel engines was at an end. " Timothy's Dillies " were then reconverted to four-wheel locomotives, and continued at work on the line till about 1862.

Not many locomotive writers are acquainted with the fact tha"

FIG. 5— HACKWORTH'S Oil HEDLEY'S SECOND DESIGN, AS USED ON THE WYLAM RAILWAY IN 1815

in 1814 William Stewart, of Newport, Mon., constructed a locomotive for the Park End Colliery Company, which was tried on the Lydney Railway, and found to work in a satisfactory manner. The Park End Colliery Company were paying about £3,000 a year to contractors for horse haulage of their coal to the Forest of Dean Canal, and Stewart undertook to do the same by locomotive power for half that sum. The Company accepted his teraisi, and he set about the

14 EVOLUTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

construction of his engine. Whilst this was progressing the contrac- tors who provided the horses were told at each monthly settlement that tho Company were going to use a locomotive to, haul the coal, as horse-power was too expensive. By means of these threats the con- tractors were induced each month to accept a less price than pre- viously for "leading" the coal over the tramroad. U~on the specified date Stewart's locomotive was duly delivered on the line, and ac- cepted by the Park End Colliery Company for doing the work required; but the engineer was informed that the horse-power con- tractors were then only receiving £2,000 a year for the work, and that as Stewart had agreed to provide locomotive power at one-half of the sum paid for horses, he would only receive £1,000 a year.

Stewart was so highly indignant at this piece of sharp practice that he refused to have anythin^ftirtner to do with the Park End Colliery Company, and at once removed his locomotive off their tramroad, and took it back to Newport.

The earliest attempts of George Stephenson in connec- tion with the evolution of the steam locomotive now deserve attention. Stephenson himself is not very clear about his first engine, for, speaking at Newcastle at the opening of the Newcastle and Darlington Railway in 181-1, lie said that thirty-two years ago he constructed his first engine. "We called the engine 'My Lord/ after Lord Ravensworth, who provided the money for its construction." Both these statements are erroneous, for Stephenson did not build his first engine till 1814, and thirty-two years before 1844 would have been 1812. Then the engine could not have been called "My Lord," after Lord Ravensworth, for £he title did not exist in 1814, the gentleman alluded to being only Sir Thomas Liddell till the coronation of