HIGH SPEED IN 1829

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 31 August 1929, Page 11

HIGH SPEED IN 1829

{JjTEPHENSON *!S primitive locomotive, The Rocket, in the Scion ee Museum, South Kensington, should bo an object of special interest at this time, beca-use-if"is-just'"a“'lfim-' dred years since the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, on which it was to make its trial journey, was completed, writes F. Payler in the London “Daily Telegraph.’ ’ i That was not the first railway to em- | ploy locomotive power, nor was The J Rocket the first steam locomotive. An earlier engine by Stephenson had alI ready appeared *on the Stockton and j Darlington Railway, with the strange I auxiliary of a signalman on horseback riding in advance, and it now has the honour of a pedestal ar Darlington. But those earlier engines shared favour with horse-traction, and by some were Thought much inferior. J It was the Liverpool and Manchester j j Railway of 1829 that first awakened the public to the fact. that.a revolution! in railroad transport had begun. The Rocket was the first “high-speed” locomotive, a description given to it by terrified and nervous people, though | the trial speed averaged the modest rate of only fourteen miles an h'our; and the engine, when running light, with no vehicles behind, barely achiev. ed thirty miles to the hour. As remarkable as the making of the engine was the making of the railroad, and Stephenson was responsible for both. This presented every difficulty and problem known to the modern railway engineer, and one, in addition, which never troubles him, a lack of railway contractors and navvies, for the need of them had not arisen in those days of railway infancy. Stephenson had to organise all t.hn work himself. and one of his first acts was to summon his son. Robert, from America to assist him. A gigantic barrier of red sandstone rii the outskirts of Liverpool had to 'be

14 MILES PER HOUR

tunnelled.‘There were hills to be bored, valleys to be crossed, and at least a hundred bridges to be made under or over the railway. But the greatest of all the ’obstacles was the quagmire of Ghat Moss, four miles aeross and many yards deep. One contemporary engineer of eminence declared that no man in his senses would attempt'to make a railroad over Chat Moss. The Stephensons made the attempt, and brilliantly succeeded. Many plans were tried and failed, but at last the method was adopted of depositing bundles of faggots in the ibog. As the mass rose it became more solid, and when ballast was placed on this fragile material, there resulted a firm, substantial, enduring road, over which the .heaviest trains and loads are borne in perfect safety to this day. Actually the railroad was finished be. fore the method of traction had been settled. Some advocated the placing of stationary engines at long intervals to haul along the rolling stock f.vith ropes. But- the directors finally decided upon steam locomotives, and they offered a prize of £SOO for the best designed engine which fulfilled certain conditions. It was to bo on springs, must not emit smoke, must not weight more than six tons, must be able to draw at least three times its own weight, and must not cost more than £550.

Stephenson entered The Itocket, which had driving wheels 4 feet 8$ inches in diameter, a piston stroke of 164 inches, and weighed 4 tons scyc!. Mr Tlackworth produced The .Sanspareil, and Messrs Braithwaite and Ericsson The Novelty. A fourth entrant withdrew bofoie the trial. The Pocket more than satisfied all the conditions, and won, bringing enduring fame to its maker, the son of an agricultural labourer. In the ten years fol- - lowing this,success there was a succession of railway projects, culminating in the disastrous “railway mania.’’