Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 6 (October 1, 1929)

A £500 prize for the best Locomotive

A £500 prize for the best Locomotive.

Towards the close of the year 1828, operations were so far advanced on the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway that serious attention was turned to the question of motive power. A deputation was sent to Darlington to study and report upon the locomotives utilised on the Stockton and Darlington system, but as much doubt existed as to the best means of haulage to be adopted, it was in the end agreed to offer an award of £500 in open competition for the locomotive engine which, in the words of the promoters, would be “a decided improvement on those now in use, as respects the consumption of smoke, increased speed, adequate power and moderate weight.” The actual conditions were that the locomotive should consume its own smoke, have two safety valves, be fitted with springs, and not exceed six tons in weight, and £550 in price. If the engine turned the scales at less than four and a half tons it might be on four wheels. If it weighed more than four and a half tons, six wheels were stipulated. The successful machine had to haul three times its own weight on the level.

News of the contest spread rapidly throughout the length and breadth of Britain. Apart from the substantial money prize held out as bait, it was felt that immense prestige would come to the lucky winner. At that time about fifty primitive railway locomotives had been turned out at Home; in the United States a single model steam locomotive had been constructed, while in Germany a couple of engines had been built, but these did not prove satisfactory in service. At that time there were many types of stationary steam engines being used to draw vehicles up inclines. For the Liverpool and Manchester competition some ten locomotives were built, but only four of these appeared at the trials in 1829. A fifth entry there was, it is true, but this was a comical affair, known as the “Cyclopede,” consisting of a horse moving an endless platform with his feet. Even a century ago, so clumsy a contraption page 21 was greeted with the derision it so well deserved.