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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 2, Issue 8 (December 1, 1927)

A Century of Railway Romance

page 25

A Century of Railway Romance.

The New Toy.

It was on September 27th, 1825, that the first public railway in Great Britain had its cradling, when, to the open-mouthed amazement of thousands of spectators the engine “Locomotion” with George Stephenson for driver, puffed its gallant way along the new Stockton and Darlington line with a long wake of wagons and trucks behind it. But, though “all the world wondered” at such a revolutionary feat of locomotion, we may be sure that no one-not even the great Stephenson himself-foresaw the colossal dimensions the infant cradled on that historic day a century ago was destined to assume.

And surely seldom, if ever, has an infant enterprise come to its birth with more difficulty or a longer delay.

Stephenson's Forerunner.

More than forty years had passed since Murdoch, a pupil of the great Watt, had startled the natives of Cornwall by careering along a road on the outskirts of Redruth in a weird-looking machine on three wheels, vomiting smoke. Little wonder that at such an uncanny spectacle the simple Cornish folk, on their way home from church, either gazed at it in petrified amazement, or took to their heels in panic, assured that the driver of the “snorting abomination” was no other than the Evil One himself.

But Murdoch could afford to smile at the sensation and horror he had caused, for he had triumphantly proved the possibilities of steam as a locomotive power. For long years stationary engines had done excellent work at the pit-heads, pulling up truck-loads of coal, but, until the adventurous Murdoch drove his crude engine along these Cornish roads, steam had never been used as a means of propulsion.

And where Murdoch led the way, a rival engineer-Richard Trevithick-was not long in following. Designing an engine on improved lines he soon had his locomotives busy drawing coal-trucks on many a colliery line in South Wales. It is true that they were not very reliable-they had mutinous moods when they refused to work at all, and had frequent breakdowns-but, on the whole, they were a great improvement in speed and economy on horsetraction.

But Trevithick was by no means satisfied, that his engines should be used only for pulling coal-trucks; his ambition was to employ them for passenger traffic; and, in order to introduce and popularise their use, he took one of them to London, rented a piece of ground on the site now occupied by Euston Station, constructed a small circular railway, and carried curious and excited passengers round it by the thousand at a shilling a head.

But though the new “toy” naturally attracted considerable attention, it was still regarded as a toy and nothing else. It was too ludicrous to think that it could possibly be of any real practical use. And when, a few years later, it was seriously proposed to construct railway lines for the conveyance of passengers and cargo, the whole country was up in arms. Such a scheme, was seen, would be the ruin of the stage coaches and canals, which had hitherto served all the needs of locomotion, and in which large sums of money were invested. Hundreds of coaching-houses would have to be closed. Land owners declared, purple-faced, that the engines would utterly spoil their game preserves and set fire to their stacks, and the railway would cut up their lands and parks; while the people at large pictured all kinds of horrors from the blowing up of the engines to terrible collisions.

Parliament's Opposition.

Thus it was that, when bills were introduced into Parliament for the construction of railways, they were ignominiously defeated one after another by the powerful forces arrayed against them; and a whole generation had elapsed after Trevithick had startled and entertained London by his “railway circus” before at long last the Stockton and Darlington Company succeeded in getting their bill, and the first sod of the first railway was cut.

Even then the world remained sceptical and derisive, and it was only when George Stephenson's “Locomotion” set out on its pioneer journey that its eyes were opened to the wonderful possibilities of steam traction. And no wonder for this gallant locomotive made light work of pulling a train of six loaded wagons, a passenger coach, and no fewer than twenty-one trucks packed with half-a-thousand passengers. Not only did it pull this heavy load, but it page 26 actually attained a speed of twelve miles an hour, thus doing the work of at least fifty horses.

But in spite of this convincing success it is strange to record that for sometime the line was used almost exclusively for the carriage of coal. while passengers had to be content with a solitary coach, which made a few daily journeys drawn by horses.

“At Least Ten Miles per Hour.”

As a matter of fact “Locomotion” and her sister engines proved to be scarcely equal to their task. On the level they behaved excellently; but some of the gradients proved too steep for them and in two sections of the line it was found necessary to instal stationary engines to haul the trains by means of ropes.

It was not long, however, before a more powerful locomotive was designed by a clever mechanic named Hackworth, who introduced several important improvements; and soon Hackworth's engine-the “Royal George”-had supplanted the two feeble locomotives on the Stockton and Darlington line.

Meanwhile-in 1826-a bill had been passed by Parliament for the construction of a railway between Liverpool and Manchester involving that stupendous feat of engineering skill, the bridging of Chat Moss-four miles of treacherous and changing bog twenty feet or more in depth-a feat which was so brilliantly executed under the direction of George Stephenson. It was at Stephenson's suggestion that a prize of £500 was offered for the best type of locomotive for the new line, the stipulation being that the engine must not weigh more than six tons, that it must have a speed of at least ten miles an hour, and be able to draw a load of twenty tons; and it must consume its own smoke.

For this competition a section of line near Liverpool was chosen, and five engines were entered appearing at the “starting post,” as many hued as Joseph's coat.

As ill-luck would have it, in these tests-which took place at Rainhill in October, 1829-four of the entrants failed rather disastrously. Hackworth's “Sanspareil,” a really fine engine, burst a cylinder and was obliged to retire from the contest; and Ericsson's “Novelty”-in spite of a very promising start, in which she attained a speed of thirty miles an hour-had to be withdrawn through boiler trouble, while the other two failed absolutely.

The “Rocket” Wins.

The field was thus left to Stephenson's “Rocket,” which passed all the tests satisfactorily, reaching a maximum speed of 24 miles and an average speed of 13½ miles an hour. Whatever doubts remained as to the superiority of steam over horse haulage, they were finally dispelled by the performance of the “Rocket” on that occasion.

The above ticket was recently sent to The Rt. Hon. The Minister of Railways, by Mr. U. W. Budden, Riwaka, Nelson, as an interesting historical railway souvenir. The ticket was issued over 53 years ago to Mr. Budden's father (the late Henry Budden), and was the first ticket issued on the line.

The above ticket was recently sent to The Rt. Hon. The Minister of Railways, by Mr. U. W. Budden, Riwaka, Nelson, as an interesting historical railway souvenir. The ticket was issued over 53 years ago to Mr. Budden's father (the late Henry Budden), and was the first ticket issued on the line.

page 27

Thus in spite of every conceivable difficulty and obstruction, we find Britain's first two railways-Stockton and Darlington, and Liverpool and Manchester-successfully established, the pioneers, small as they were, of the vast system which to-day spreads its tentacles of steel over the whole of Great Britain, with a total mileage more than equal to two circuits of the equator, and a capital exceeding a thousand million pounds.

Quick on the heels of these modest pioneers came a third railway linking Birmingham with London, opened in 1834, with curiously, a thirty mile gap which had to be covered by coaches until, four years later, Kilsby tunnel made the way clear for an unbroken line. Then followed a fourth line connecting Birmingham with Liverpool and Manchester; and the great and revolutionary era of the railway was now well started on its triumphant way.

When Winter Comes. Snow Scenes In Ohakune Railway District.

When Winter Comes.
Snow Scenes In Ohakune Railway District.