FIRST STEAM TRAIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20851, 18 April 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

FIRST STEAM TRAIN.

" ROCKET'S" FORERUNNER.

BET OF 500 GUINEAS. RICHARD TREVITHICK'S WIN. Over 127 years ago —on February 21, 1804— there was'' great excitement at Merthyr Tydvil, Wales, the occasion being a test run with the first steam locomotive that ever pulled a train of loaded trucks npon iron rails. At that time the use. of steam power was being firmly established in the tin. iron, and coal mines of Cornwall and South Wales, mostly for pumping water from tlie mines, 'and gradually superseding the old horse-driven " whims " for .winding purposes'

Richard Trevithick, the Cornish mining engineer, had constructed two experimental road engines at Camborne in 1801 and 1802, and the following year he ran a steam coach in London, but the rough state of the roads of those times rendered them unsuitable for this new method ot locomotion, and nothing more was done toward its 'development as <i means of road transport till some years later. In 1803 Trevithick was in South \A ales constructing his " high-pressure engines V for working various appliances in the ironworks of Merthyi?'and the surrounding district. After the iron had been worked up into bars it war, convoyed bv means jtif horse-haulage along the old Penydnrren tram road for a distance of about 10 miles to t hp Glamorganshire Canal. A far-seeing engineer like Trevithick could not fail to realise that here was a jthance to put into practice the experience gained with the " travelling engines " at Camborne, by constructing another to run or) the iror. rails of the tram road, and £o demonstrate the possibility ot steam power for locomotion. Having suggested this idea to Sam Iforrifrey, of the I'env-

|| darren Iron Works, lie started the con- || Ptructiorf of tlie celebrated "waggon ens| gine." |$ Meanwhile, Messrs. Sam Homfrey anrl P Richard Crawsliay, tlie two great iron- || masters, discussed I lie possibilities of Ibis new method of transport, and the <>utrome of their defiberal ions was thai 1 loin - 1. frey bet Crawsliay 500 guineas that he Would- get a load of iron taken down to hi lAbereynon by steam power. Jj Trevithick's engine successfully accomplished the task, by hauling 10 tons of {§i iron and numerous people who had || climbed on to thj " trams," and thus beP , c ame famous as the first railway pasfig ' *enj»prs. .« When first, tried the engine was fitted jf With a hiiek chimney, a fact which is I'a Scarcely ciedibl, when it is realised what |s a clover engineer its designer proved to |§ l 1?; but the reason for such construction j| v ''as Trevithick'A eagerness to get a trial 1 ,'«n. Rathri than wait till the iron || chimney was finished he had a temporary jf! cr ie erected of bricks.

| The fate of this germ of the modern !| locomotive is as great a mystery as is a >ts general appearance. Owing to the ij oast-iron rails being of insufficient-strength | to withstand any weight and shocks the

engine was onlv used as a locomotive for

a few months, being afterwards converted /to a stationary engine, and set to work 3 hammer in the Penvdarren Works. In many respects.the Penvdarren engine 1804 was a better machine I ban any of those competing at Rain hi 11 when George Stephenson's Pocket won a prize. " is claimed that Trevit hick was " the father of the locomotive," not Stephenson, who is generally credited with its invention. / 1 Trevithick died almost penniless at Dartford in April. 1833, after having Suffered great hardships and misfortunes lr > Peru. His remains lie in Dartford Churchyard, having been carried there by his fellow workmen, but the exact location of his gravo is cot known.