Heartland
master brummie
As the opening of the Stockton and Darlington is approached in September, Network Rail has been busy in promoting the 200th anniversary and around stations such as Birmingham New Street it is hard not to miss the adverts there.
It marks an important event when the railway was opened inaugurally from Stockton to Witton Park Colliery on September 27th 1825 when George Stephenson's Locomotion No 1 was in operation that day, An act of 1823 had given permission for the railway to carry passengers and whilst the colliery trains came to be worked by a steam locomotive, a horse drawn passenger service was introduced in 1826 and locomotive haulage of passengers was commenced in 1833.
So why celebrates the 27th September as Rail 200 especially as it was NOT the first to use a steam locomotive on passenger trains?
The answer lies with the North Eastern Railway who chose to commemorate the event and fortunately contributed to the keeping of Locomotion No 1 instead of it being cut up. For the North Eastern Railway it was a publicity event, but for the those interested in historical correctness was not a celebration of the first steam hauled passenger train conveying fare paying passengers. the Stockton and Darlington Railway did have passengers travelling in the coal waggons but they were not fare paying, that honour belonged to the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway which opened on May 3rd 1830 when another Stephenson locomotive Invicta hauled the train.
The term Rail 200 is best left to be September 16th 1830 when the Liverpool and Manchester Railway commenced to run steam locomotives on all their services, both freight and passenger. September 15th 1830 was the official opening day for that railway.
It could be a matter of railway politics like the North Eastern Railway did as by 2030 Network Rail may be replaced by Great British Railways.
The present exhibition outside New Street seems to pursue another topic to be questioned
James Watt was the inventor of the separate condenser and that led to the building of improved stationary steam engines at the Soho Manufactory and the nearby foundry when that opened beside the Birmingham Canal. They were not the first steam engines as Newcomen and Savery type predated them. Those engines were called Atmospheric Engines where the steam was condensed in a cylinder. There were Atmospheric engines in various parts of South Staffordshire and East Worcester where the mines were drained by them. Engineering firms of that time produced metallic parts for their construction and wood was also needed. A replica of this design is to be found at the Black Country Museum.
For the locomotive used on roads and early railways the concept of the high pressure engine owes its development to Richard Trevithick and whilst Trevithick had various experimental designs it was left to others to build working engines. These were principally in the North East where people like George Stephenson made working engines. There these were called "Travelling Engines" to distinguish them from the fixed engines as built by Boulton & Watt and others.
We owe the development of these engines for use on public railways to William James, one time agent to the Earl of Warwick but later and ironmaster, coal master and engineer who was the first to survey the Liverpool and Manchester Railway route. He was caught up in the difficult financial times that then prevailed and that led to his bankruptcy and reduced involvement with railway schemes and enabled George Stephenson to step in with railway engineering and promotion. Through him, his son, Robert, and others the travelling engine with its connecting rods and boiler mounted cylinder morphed into the locomotive using cylinders near the wheels which were connected through cranks to the coupling rods.
Whilst the Liverpool and Manchester Railway eventually obtained an act for construction in 1826, these remained difficult times for promoting railway where finance for shareholders was limited and canal companies often opposed proposed railways in Parliament. It was the success of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and lines that connected with it that eventually led to the building of key cross country routes that were to form the core of the British Railway network.
It marks an important event when the railway was opened inaugurally from Stockton to Witton Park Colliery on September 27th 1825 when George Stephenson's Locomotion No 1 was in operation that day, An act of 1823 had given permission for the railway to carry passengers and whilst the colliery trains came to be worked by a steam locomotive, a horse drawn passenger service was introduced in 1826 and locomotive haulage of passengers was commenced in 1833.
So why celebrates the 27th September as Rail 200 especially as it was NOT the first to use a steam locomotive on passenger trains?
The answer lies with the North Eastern Railway who chose to commemorate the event and fortunately contributed to the keeping of Locomotion No 1 instead of it being cut up. For the North Eastern Railway it was a publicity event, but for the those interested in historical correctness was not a celebration of the first steam hauled passenger train conveying fare paying passengers. the Stockton and Darlington Railway did have passengers travelling in the coal waggons but they were not fare paying, that honour belonged to the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway which opened on May 3rd 1830 when another Stephenson locomotive Invicta hauled the train.
The term Rail 200 is best left to be September 16th 1830 when the Liverpool and Manchester Railway commenced to run steam locomotives on all their services, both freight and passenger. September 15th 1830 was the official opening day for that railway.
It could be a matter of railway politics like the North Eastern Railway did as by 2030 Network Rail may be replaced by Great British Railways.
The present exhibition outside New Street seems to pursue another topic to be questioned
James Watt was the inventor of the separate condenser and that led to the building of improved stationary steam engines at the Soho Manufactory and the nearby foundry when that opened beside the Birmingham Canal. They were not the first steam engines as Newcomen and Savery type predated them. Those engines were called Atmospheric Engines where the steam was condensed in a cylinder. There were Atmospheric engines in various parts of South Staffordshire and East Worcester where the mines were drained by them. Engineering firms of that time produced metallic parts for their construction and wood was also needed. A replica of this design is to be found at the Black Country Museum.
For the locomotive used on roads and early railways the concept of the high pressure engine owes its development to Richard Trevithick and whilst Trevithick had various experimental designs it was left to others to build working engines. These were principally in the North East where people like George Stephenson made working engines. There these were called "Travelling Engines" to distinguish them from the fixed engines as built by Boulton & Watt and others.
We owe the development of these engines for use on public railways to William James, one time agent to the Earl of Warwick but later and ironmaster, coal master and engineer who was the first to survey the Liverpool and Manchester Railway route. He was caught up in the difficult financial times that then prevailed and that led to his bankruptcy and reduced involvement with railway schemes and enabled George Stephenson to step in with railway engineering and promotion. Through him, his son, Robert, and others the travelling engine with its connecting rods and boiler mounted cylinder morphed into the locomotive using cylinders near the wheels which were connected through cranks to the coupling rods.
Whilst the Liverpool and Manchester Railway eventually obtained an act for construction in 1826, these remained difficult times for promoting railway where finance for shareholders was limited and canal companies often opposed proposed railways in Parliament. It was the success of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and lines that connected with it that eventually led to the building of key cross country routes that were to form the core of the British Railway network.
