GEORGE STEPHENSON ENGINEER OF THE STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON RAILWAY.
The district west of Darlington, in Durham, is one of the richest mineral
fields of the North. Vast stores of coal underlie the Bishop Auckland
Valley; and from an early period new and good roads to market were felt
to be exceedingly desirable. As yet it remained almost a closed field,
the cost of transport of the coal in carts, or on horses' or donkeys'
backs, greatly limiting the sale. Long ago, in the days of canal
formations, Brindley was consulted about a canal; afterwards, in 1812, a
tramroad was surveyed by Rennie; and eventually, in 1817, a railway was
projected from Darlington to Stockton-on-Tees.
[Picture: Map of Stockton and Darlington Railway]
Of this railway Edward Pease was the projector. A thoughtful and
sagacious man, ready in resources, possessed of indomitable energy and
perseverance, he was eminently qualified to undertake what appeared to
many the hopeless enterprise of obtaining an Act for a railway through
such an unpromising district. One who knew him in 1818 said, "he was a
man who could see a hundred years ahead."
[Picture: Edward Pease]
When the writer last saw him, in the autumn of 1854, Mr. Pease was in his
eighty-eighth year; yet he still possessed the hopefulness and mental
vigour of a man in his prime. Hale and hearty, and full of reminiscences
of the past, he continued to take an active interest in all measures
calculated to render men happier and better. Still sound in health, his
eye had not lost its brilliancy, nor his cheek its colour; and there was
an elasticity in his step which younger men might have envied. {125}
In getting up a company for surveying and forming a railway, Mr. Pease
had great difficulties to encounter. The people of the neighbourhood
spoke of it as a ridiculous undertaking, and predicted that it would be
ruinous to all concerned. Even those most interested in the opening of
new markets for their coal, were indifferent, if not actually hostile.
The Stockton merchants and shipowners, whom it was calculated so greatly
to benefit, gave the project no support; and not twenty shares were
subscribed for in the whole town. Mr. Pease nevertheless persevered; and
he induced many of his friends and relations to subscribe the capital
required.
The necessary preliminary steps were taken in 1818 to apply for an act to
authorise the construction of a tramroad from Witton to Stockton. The
measure was however, strongly opposed by the Duke of Cleveland, because
the proposed line passed close by one of his fox covers; and the bill was
rejected. A new survey was then made, avoiding the Duke's cover; and in
1819 a renewed application was made to Parliament. The promoters were
this time successful, and the royal assent was given to the first
Stockton and Darlington Railway Act on the 19th April, 1821.
The projectors did not originally contemplate the employment of
locomotives. The Act provided for the making and maintaining of
tramroads for the passage "of waggons and other carriages" "_with men and
horses_ or otherwise," and a further clause made provision for damages
done in course of traffic by the "waggoners." The public were to be free
"to use with horses, cattle and carriages," the roads formed by the
company, on payment of the authorised rates, "between the hours of seven
in the morning and six in the evening," during winter; "between six in
the morning and eight in the evening," in two of the spring and autumn
months; and "between five in the morning and ten in the evening," in the
summer months of May, June, July, and August. From this it will be
obvious that the projectors of the line had themselves at first no very
large conceptions as to the scope of their project.
One day, in the spring of 1821, two strangers knocked at the door of Mr.
Pease's house in Darlington; and the message was brought to him that some
persons from Killingworth wanted to speak with him. They were invited
in, on which one of the visitors introduced himself as Nicholas Wood,
viewer at Killingworth, and then turning to his companion, he introduced
him as George Stephenson, engine-wright, of the same place.
Mr. Pease entered into conversation with his visitors, and was soon told
their object. Stephenson had heard of the passing of the Stockton and
Darlington Act, and desiring to increase his railway experience, and also
to employ in some larger field the practical knowledge he had already
gained, he determined to visit the known projector of the undertaking,
with the view of being employed to carry it out. He had brought with him
his friend Wood, for the purpose at the same time of relieving his
diffidence, and supporting his application.
Mr. Pease liked the appearance of his visitor: "there was," as he
afterwards remarked when speaking of Stephenson, "such an honest,
sensible look about him, and he seemed so modest and unpretending. He
spoke in the strong Northumbrian dialect of his district, and described
himself as 'only the engine-wright at Killingworth; that's what he was.'"
Mr. Pease soon saw that our engineer was the very man for his purpose.
The whole plans of the railway were still in an undetermined state, and
Mr. Pease was therefore glad to have the opportunity of profiting by
Stephenson's experience. In the course of their conversation, the latter
strongly recommended a _railway_ in preference to a tramroad. They also
discussed the kind of tractive power to be employed: Mr. Pease stating
that the company had based their whole calculations on the employment of
_horse_ power. "I was so satisfied," said he afterwards, "that a horse
upon an iron road would draw ten tons for one ton on a common road, that
I felt sure that before long the railway would become the King's
highway." But Mr. Pease was scarcely prepared for the bold assertion
made by his visitor, that the locomotive engine with which he had been
working the Killingworth Railway for many years past was worth fifty
horses, and that engines made after a similar plan would yet entirely
supersede all horse power upon railroads. Stephenson was daily becoming
more positive as to the superiority of his locomotive; and hence he
strongly urged Mr. Pease to adopt it. "Come over to Killingworth," said
he, "and see what my engines can do; seeing is believing, sir." Mr.
Pease accordingly promised that on some early day he would go over to
Killingworth, and take a look at the wonderful machine that was to
supersede horses. The result of the interview was, that Mr. Pease
promised to bring Stephenson's application for the appointment of
engineer before the Directors, and to support it with his influence;
whereon the two visitors prepared to take their leave, informing Mr.
Pease that they intended to return to Newcastle "by nip;" that is, they
expected to get a smuggled lift on the stage-coach, by tipping Jehu,--for
in those days the stage coachmen regarded all casual roadside passengers
as their proper perquisites. They had, however, been so much engrossed
by their conversation, that the lapse of time was forgotten, and when
Stephenson and his friend made enquiries about the return coach, they
found the last had left; and they had to walk the 18 miles to Durham on
their way back to Newcastle.
Mr. Pease having made further inquiries respecting Stephenson's character
and qualifications, and having received a very strong recommendation of
him as the right man for the intended work, he brought the subject of his
application before the directors of the Stockton and Darlington Company.
They resolved to adopt his recommendation that a railway be formed
instead of a tramroad; and they further requested Mr. Pease to write to
Stephenson, desiring him to undertake a re-survey of the line at the
earliest practicable period.
A man was despatched on a horse with the letter, and when he reached
Killingworth he made diligent enquiry after the person named upon the
address, "George Stephenson, Esquire, Engineer." No such person was
known in the village. It is said that the man was on the point of giving
up all further search, when the happy thought struck some of the
colliers' wives who had gathered about him, that it must be "Geordie the
engine-wright" the man was in search of; and to Geordie's cottage he
accordingly went, found him at home, and delivered the letter.
About the end of September, Stephenson went carefully over the line of
the proposed railway, for the purpose of suggesting such improvements and
deviations as he might consider desirable. He was accompanied by an
assistant and a chainman,--his son Robert entering the figures while his
father took the sights. After being engaged in the work at intervals for
about six weeks, Stephenson reported the result of his survey to the
Board of Directors, and showed that by certain deviations, a line shorter
by about three miles might be constructed at a considerable saving in
expense, while at the same time more favourable gradients--an important
consideration--would be secured.
It was, however, determined in the first place to proceed with the works
at those parts of the line where no deviation was proposed; and the first
rail of the Stockton and Darlington Railway was laid with considerable
ceremony, near Stockton, on the 23rd May, 1822.
It is worthy of note that Stephenson, in making his first estimate of the
cost of forming the railway according to the Instructions of the
directors, set down, as part of the cost, 6200 pounds for stationary
engines, not mentioning locomotives at all. The directors as yet
confined their views to the employment only of horses for the haulage of
the coals, and of fixed engines and ropes where horse-power was not
applicable. The whole question of steam locomotive power was, in the
estimation of the public, as well as of practical and scientific men, as
yet in doubt. The confident anticipations of George Stephenson, as to
the eventual success of locomotive engines, were regarded as mere
speculations; and when he gave utterance to his views, as he frequently
took the opportunity of doing, it even had the effect of shaking the
confidence of some of his friends in the solidity of his judgment and his
practical qualities as an engineer.
When Mr. Pease discussed the question with Stephenson, his remark was,
"Come over and see my engines at Killingworth, and satisfy yourself as to
the efficiency of the locomotive. I will show you the colliery books,
that you may ascertain for yourself the actual cost of working. And I
must tell you that the economy of the locomotive engine is no longer a
matter of theory, but a matter of fact." So confident was the tone in
which Stephenson spoke of the success of his engines, and so important
were the consequences involved in arriving at a correct conclusion on the
subject, that Mr. Pease at length resolved upon paying a visit to
Killingworth in the summer of 1822, to see with his own eyes the
wonderful new power so much vaunted by the engineer.
When Mr. Pease arrived at Killingworth village, he inquired for George
Stephenson, and was told that he must go over to the West Moor, and seek
for a cottage by the roadside, with a dial over the door--"that was where
George Stephenson lived." They soon found the house with the dial; and
on knocking, the door was opened by Mrs. Stephenson--his second wife
(Elizabeth Hindmarsh), the daughter of a farmer at Black Callerton, whom
he had married in 1820. {129} Her husband, she said, was not in the
house at present, but she would send for him to the colliery. And in a
short time Stephenson appeared before them in his working dress, just as
he had come out of the pit.
He very soon had his locomotive brought up to the crossing close by the
end of the cottage,--made the gentlemen mount it, and showed them its
paces. Harnessing it to a train of loaded waggons, he ran it along the
railroad, and so thoroughly satisfied his visitors of its power and
capabilities, that from that day Edward Pease was a declared supporter of
the locomotive engine. In preparing the Amended Stockton and Darlington
Act, at Stephenson's urgent request Mr. Pease had a clause inserted,
taking power to work the railway by means of locomotive engines, and to
employ them for the haulage of passengers as well as of merchandise.
{130} The Act was obtained in 1823, on which Stephenson was appointed
the company's engineer at a salary of 300 pounds per annum; and it was
determined that the line should be constructed and opened for traffic as
soon as practicable.
He at once proceeded, accompanied by his assistants, with the working
survey of the line, laying out every foot of the ground himself. Railway
surveying was as yet in its infancy, and was slow and difficult work. It
afterwards became a separate branch of railway business, and was
entrusted to a special staff. Indeed on no subsequent line did George
Stephenson take the sights through the spirit level with his own hands
and eyes as he did on this railway. He started very early--dressed in a
blue tailed coat, breeches, and top-boots--and surveyed until dusk. He
was not at any time particular as to his living; and during the survey,
he took his chance of getting a little milk and bread at some cottager's
house along the line, or occasionally joined in a homely dinner at some
neighbouring farmhouse. The country people were accustomed to give him a
hearty welcome when he appeared at their door; for he was always full of
cheery and homely talk, and, when there were children about the house, he
had plenty of humorous chat for them as well as for their seniors.
After the day's work was over, George would drop in at Mr. Pease's, to
talk over the progress of the survey, and discuss various matters
connected with the railway. Mr. Pease's daughters were usually present;
and on one occasion, finding the young ladies learning the art of
embroidery, he volunteered to instruct them. {131} "I know all about
it," said he; "and you will wonder how I learnt it. I will tell you.
When I was a brakesman at Killingworth, I learnt the art of embroidery
while working the pitmen's buttonholes by the engine fire at nights." He
was never ashamed, but on the contrary rather proud, of reminding his
friends of these humble pursuits of his early life. Mr. Pease's family
were greatly pleased with his conversation, which was always amusing and
instructive; full of all sorts of experience, gathered in the oddest and
most out-of-the-way places. Even at that early period, before he mixed
in the society of educated persons, there was a dash of speculativeness
in his remarks, which gave a high degree of originality to his
conversation; and he would sometimes, in a casual remark, throw a flash
of light upon a subject, which called up a train of pregnant suggestions.
One of the most important subjects of discussion at these meetings with
Mr. Pease, was the establishment of a manufactory at Newcastle for the
building of locomotive engines. Up to this time all the locomotives
constructed after Stephenson's designs, had been made by ordinary
mechanics working among the collieries in the North of England. But he
had long felt that the accuracy and style of their workmanship admitted
of great improvement, and that upon this the more perfect action of the
locomotive engine, and its general adoption, in a great measure depended.
One great object that he had in view in establishing the proposed factory
was, to concentrate a number of good workmen, for the purpose of carrying
out the improvements in detail which he was constantly making in his
engine. He felt hampered by the want of efficient help from skilled
mechanics, who could work out in a practical form the ideas of which his
busy mind was always so prolific. Doubtless, too, he believed that the
manufactory would prove a remunerative investment, and that, on the
general adoption of the railway system which he anticipated, he would
derive solid advantages from the fact of his establishment being the only
one of the kind for the special construction of locomotive engines.
Mr. Pease approved of his design, and strongly recommended him to carry
it into effect. But there was the question of means; and Stephenson did
not think he had capital enough for the purpose. He told Mr. Pease that
he could advance 1000 pounds--the amount of the testimonial presented by
the coal-owners for his safety-lamp invention, which he had still left
untouched; but he did not think this sufficient for the purpose, and he
thought that he should require at least another 1000 pounds. Mr. Pease
had been very much struck with the successful performances of the
Killingworth engine; and being an accurate judge of character, he
believed that he could not go far wrong in linking a portion of his
fortune with the energy and industry of George Stephenson. He consulted
his friend Thomas Richardson in the matter; and the two consented to
advance 500 pounds each for the purpose of establishing the engine
factory at Newcastle. A piece of land was accordingly purchased in Forth
Street, in August, 1823, on which a small building was erected--the
nucleus of the gigantic establishment which was afterwards formed around
it; and active operations were begun early in 1824.
While the Stockton and Darlington Railway works were in progress, our
engineer had many interesting discussions with Mr. Pease, on points
connected with its construction and working, the determination of which
in a great measure affected the formation and working of all future
railways. The most important points were these:
1. The comparative merits of cast and wrought iron rails.
2. The gauge of the railway.
3. The employment of horse or engine power in working it, when ready for
traffic.
The kind of rails to be laid down to form the permanent road was a matter
of considerable importance. A wooden tramroad had been contemplated when
the first Act was applied for; but Stephenson having advised that an iron
road should be laid down, he was instructed to draw up a specification of
the rails. He went before the directors to discuss with them the kind of
material to be specified. He was himself interested in the patent for
cast-iron rails, which he had taken out in conjunction with Mr. Losh in
1816; and, of course, it was to his interest that his articles should be
used. But when requested to give his opinion on the subject, he frankly
said to the directors, "Well, gentlemen, to tell you the truth, although
it would put 500 pounds in my pocket to specify my own patent rails, I
cannot do so after the experience I have had. If you take my advice, you
will not lay down a single cast-iron rail." "Why?" asked the directors.
"Because they will not stand the weight, and you will be at no end of
expense for repairs and relays." "What kind of road, then," he was
asked, "would you recommend?" "Malleable rails, certainly," said he;
"and I can recommend them with the more confidence from the fact that at
Killingworth we have had some Swedish bars laid down--nailed to wooden
sleepers--for a period of fourteen years, the waggons passing over them
daily; and there they are, in use yet, whereas the cast rails are
constantly giving way."
The price of malleable rails was, however, so high--being then worth
about 12 pounds per ton as compared with cast-iron rails at about 5
pounds 10s.--and the saving of expense was so important a consideration
with the subscribers, that Stephenson was directed to provide, in the
specification, that only one-half of the rails required--or about 800
tons--should be of malleable iron, and the remainder of cast-iron. The
malleable rails were of the kind called "fish-bellied," and weighed 28
lbs. to the yard, being 2.25 inches broad at the top, with the upper
flange 0.75 inch thick. They were only 2 inches in depth at the points
at which they rested on the chairs, and 3.25 inches in the middle or
bellied part.
When forming the road, the proper gauge had also to be determined. What
width was this to be? The gauge of the first tramroad laid down had
virtually settled the point. The gauge of wheels of the common vehicles
of the country--of the carts and waggons employed on common roads, which
were first used on the tramroads--was about 4 feet 8.5 inches. And so
the first tramroads were laid down of this gauge. The tools and
machinery for constructing coal-waggons and locomotives were formed with
this gauge in view. The Wylam waggon-way, afterwards the Wylam
plate-way, the Killingworth railroad, and the Hetton rail road, were as
nearly as possible on the same gauge. Some of the earth-waggons used to
form the Stockton and Darlington road were brought from the Hetton
railway; and others which were specially constructed were formed of the
same dimensions, these being intended to be afterwards employed in the
working of the traffic.
As the period drew near for the opening of the line, the question of the
tractive power to be employed was anxiously discussed. At the Brusselton
incline, fixed engines must necessarily be made use of; but with respect
to the mode of working the railway generally, it was decided that horses
were to be largely employed, and arrangements were made for their
purchase. The influence of Mr. Pease also secured that a fair trial
should be given to the experiment of working the traffic by locomotive
power; and three engines were ordered from the firm of Stephenson and
Co., Newcastle, which were put in hand forthwith, in anticipation of the
opening of the railway. These were constructed after Mr. Stephenson's
most matured designs, and embodied all the improvements which he had
contrived up to that time. No. I. engine, the "Locomotion," which was
first delivered, weighed about eight tons. It had one large flue or tube
through the boiler, by which the heated air passed direct from the
furnace at one end, lined with fire-bricks, to the chimney at the other.
The combustion in the furnace was quickened by the adoption of the
steam-blast in the chimney. The heat raised was sometimes so great, and
it was so imperfectly abstracted by the surrounding water, that the
chimney became almost red-hot. Such engines, when put to their speed,
were found capable of running at the rate of from twelve to sixteen miles
an hour; but they were better adapted for the heavy work of hauling
coal-trains at low speeds--for which, indeed, they were specially
constructed--than for running at the higher speeds afterwards adopted.
Nor was it contemplated by the directors as possible, at the time when
they were ordered, that locomotives could be made available for the
purposes of passenger travelling. Besides, the Stockton and Darlington
Railway did not run through a district in which passengers were supposed
to be likely to constitute any considerable portion of the traffic.
We may easily imagine the anxiety felt by Mr. Stephenson during the
progress of the works towards completion, and his mingled hopes and
doubts (though his doubts were but few) as to the issue of this great
experiment. When the formation of the line near Stockton was well
advanced, Mr. Stephenson one day, accompanied by his son Robert and John
Dixon, made a journey of inspection of the works. The party reached
Stockton, and proceeded to dine at one of the inns there. After dinner,
Stephenson ventured on the very unusual measure of ordering in a bottle
of wine, to drink success to the railway. John Dixon relates with pride
the utterance of the master on the occasion. "Now, lads," said he to the
two young men, "I venture to tell you that I think you will live to see
the day when railways will supersede almost all other methods of
conveyance in this country--when mail-coaches will go by railway, and
railroads will become the great highway for the king and all his
subjects. The time is coming when it will be cheaper for a working man
to travel upon a railway than to walk on foot. I know there are great
and almost insurmountable difficulties to be encountered; but what I have
said will come to pass as sure as you live. I only wish I may live to
see the day, though that I can scarcely hope for, as I know how slow all
human progress is, and with what difficulty I have been able to get the
locomotive thus far adopted, notwithstanding my more than ten years'
successful experiment at Killingworth." The result, however, outstripped
even the most sanguine anticipations of Stephenson; and his son Robert,
shortly after his return from America in 1827, saw his father's
locomotive generally employed as the tractive power on railways.
The Stockton and Darlington line was opened for traffic on the 27th
September, 1825. An immense concourse of people assembled from all parts
to witness the ceremony of opening this first public railway. The
powerful opposition which the project had encountered, the threats which
were still uttered against the company by the road-trustees and others,
who declared that they would yet prevent the line being worked, and
perhaps the general unbelief as to its success which still prevailed,
tended to excite the curiosity of the public as to the result. Some went
to rejoice at the opening, some to see the "bubble burst;" and there were
many prophets of evil who would not miss the blowing up of the boasted
travelling engine. The opening was, however, auspicious. The
proceedings commenced at Brusselton Incline, about nine miles above
Darlington, where the fixed engine drew a train of loaded waggons up the
incline from the west, and lowered them on the east side. At the foot of
the incline a locomotive was in readiness to receive them, Stephenson
himself driving the engine. The train consisted of six waggons loaded
with coals and flour; after these was the passenger-coach, filled with
the directors and their friends, and then twenty-one waggons fitted up
with temporary seats for passengers; and lastly came six waggon-loads of
coals, making in all a train of thirty-eight vehicles. The local
chronicler of the day almost went beside himself in describing the
extraordinary event:--"The signal being given," he says, "the engine
started off with this immense train of carriages; and such was its
velocity, that in some parts the speed was frequently 12 miles an hour!"
By the time it reached Stockton there were about 600 persons in the train
or hanging on to the waggons, which must have gone at a safe and steady
pace of from four to six miles an hour from Darlington. "The arrival at
Stockton," it is added, "excited a deep interest and admiration."
The working of the line then commenced, and the results were such as to
surprise even the most sanguine of its projectors. The traffic upon
which they had formed their estimates of profit proved to be small in
comparison with that which flowed in upon them which they had never
dreamt of. Thus, what the company had principally relied upon for their
receipts was the carriage of coals for land sale at the stations along
the line, whereas the haulage of coals to the seaports for exportation to
the London market was not contemplated as possible. When the bill was
before Parliament, Mr. Lambton (afterwards Earl of Durham) succeeded in
getting a clause inserted, limiting the charge for the haulage of all
coal to Stockton-on-Tees for the purpose of shipment to 0.5d. per ton per
mile; whereas a rate of 4d. per ton was allowed to be taken for all coals
led upon the railway for land sale. Mr. Lambton's object in enforcing
the low rate of 0.5d. was to protect his own trade in coal exported from
Sunderland and the northern ports. He believed, in common with everybody
else, that the 0.5d. rate would effectually secure him against
competition on the part of the Company; for it was not considered
possible to lead coals at that price, and the proprietors of the railway
themselves considered that such a rate would be utterly ruinous. The
projectors never contemplated sending more than 10,000 tons a year to
Stockton, and those only for shipment as ballast; they looked for their
profits almost exclusively to the land sale. The result, however, was as
surprising to them as it must have been to Mr. Lambton. The 0.5d. rate
which was forced upon them, instead of being ruinous, proved the vital
element in the success of the railway. In the course of a few years, the
annual shipment of coal, led by the Stockton and Darlington Railway to
Stockton and Middlesborough, was more than 500,000 tons; and it has since
far exceeded this amount. Instead of being, as anticipated, a
subordinate branch of traffic, it proved, in fact, the main traffic,
while the land sale was merely subsidiary.
The anticipations of the company as to passenger traffic were in like
manner more than realised. At first, passengers were not thought of; and
it was only while the works were in progress that the starting of a
passenger coach was seriously contemplated. The number of persons
travelling between the two towns was very small; and it was not known
whether these would risk their persons upon the iron road. It was
determined, however, to make trial of a railway coach; and Mr. Stephenson
was authorised to have one built at Newcastle, at the cost of the
company. This was done accordingly; and the first railway passenger
carriage was built after our engineer's design. It was, however, a very
modest, and indeed a somewhat uncouth machine, more resembling the
caravans still to be seen at country fairs containing the "Giant and the
Dwarf" and other wonders of the world, than a passenger-coach of any
extant form. A row of seats ran along each side of the interior, and a
long deal table was fixed in the centre; the access being by means of a
door at the back end, in the manner of an omnibus.
[Picture: The First Railway Coach]
This coach arrived from Newcastle the day before the opening, and formed
part of the railway procession above described. Mr. Stephenson was
consulted as to the name of the coach, and he at once suggested "The
Experiment;" and by this name it was called. The Company's arms were
afterwards painted on her side, with the motto "Periculum privatum
utilitas publica." Such was the sole passenger-carrying stock of the
Stockton and Darlington Company in the year 1825. But the "Experiment"
proved the forerunner of a mighty traffic: and long time did not elapse
before it was displaced, not only by improved coaches (still drawn by
horses), but afterwards by long trains of passenger-carriages drawn by
locomotive engines.
"The Experiment" was fairly started as a passenger-coach on the 10th
October, 1825, a fortnight after the opening of the line. It was drawn
by one horse, and performed a journey daily each way between the two
towns, accomplishing the distance of twelve miles in about two hours.
The fare charged was a shilling without distinction of class; and each
passenger was allowed fourteen pounds of luggage free. "The Experiment"
was not, however, worked by the company, but was let to contractors who
worked it under an arrangement whereby toll was paid for the use of the
line, rent of booking-cabins, etc.
The speculation answered so well, that several private coaching companies
were shortly after got up by innkeepers at Darlington and Stockton, for
the purpose of running other coaches upon the railroad; and an active
competition for passenger traffic sprang up. "The Experiment" being
found too heavy for one horse to draw, besides being found an
uncomfortable machine, was banished to the coal district. Its place was
then supplied by other and better vehicles,--though they were no other
than old stage-coach bodies purchased by the company, and each mounted
upon an underframe with flange-wheels. These were let on hire to the
coaching companies, who horsed and managed them under an arrangement as
to tolls, in like manner as the "Experiment" had been worked. Now began
the distinction of inside and outside passengers, equivalent to first and
second class, paying different fares. The competition with each other
upon the railway, and with the ordinary stagecoaches upon the road, soon
brought up the speed, which was increased to ten miles an hour--the
mail-coach rate of travelling in those days, and considered very fast.
Mr. Clephan, a native of the district, has described some of the curious
features of the competition between the rival coach companies:--"There
were two separate coach companies in Stockton, and amusing collisions
sometimes occurred between the drivers--who found on the rail a novel
element for contention. Coaches cannot pass each other on the rail as on
the road; and, as the line was single, with four sidings in the mile,
when two coaches met, or two trains, or coach and train, the question
arose which of the drivers must go back? This was not always settled in
silence. As to trains, it came to be a sort of understanding that empty
should give way to loaded waggons; and as to trains and coaches, that the
passengers should have preference over coals; while coaches, when they
met, must quarrel it out. At length, midway between sidings, a post was
erected, and a rule was laid down that he who had passed the pillar must
go on, and the 'coming man' go back. At the Goose Pool and Early Nook,
it was common for these coaches to stop; and there, as Jonathan would
say, passengers and coachmen 'liquored.' One coach, introduced by an
innkeeper, was a compound of two mourning-coaches,--an approximation to
the real railway-coach, which still adheres, with multiplying exceptions,
to the stage-coach type. One Dixon, who drove the 'Experiment' between
Darlington and Shildon, is the inventor of carriage-lighting on the rail.
On a dark winter night, having compassion on his passengers, he would buy
a penny candle, and place it lighted amongst them on the table of the
'Experiment'--the first railway-coach (which, by the way, ended its days
at Shildon as a railway cabin), being also the first coach on the rail
(first, second, and third class jammed all into one) that indulged its
customers with light in darkness."
The traffic of all sorts increased so steadily and so rapidly that
considerable difficulty was experienced in working it satisfactorily. It
had been provided by the first Stockton and Darlington Act that the line
should be free to all parties who chose to use it at certain prescribed
rates, and that any person might put horses and waggons on the railway,
and carry for himself. But this arrangement led to increasing confusion
and difficulty, and could not continue in the face of a large and
rapidly-increasing traffic. The goods trains got so long that the
carriers found it necessary to call in the aid of the locomotive engine
to help them on their way. Then mixed trains of passengers and
merchandise began to run; and the result was that the railway company
found it necessary to take the entire charge and working of the traffic.
In course of time new coaches were specially built for the better
accommodation of the public, until at length regular passenger-trains
were run, drawn by the locomotive engine,--though this was not until
after the Liverpool and Manchester Company had established this as a
distinct branch of their traffic.
[Picture: The No. I. Engine at Darlington]
The three Stephenson locomotives were from the first regularly employed
to work the coal trains; and their proved efficiency for this purpose led
to the gradual increase of the locomotive power. The speed of the
engines--slow though it seems now--was in those days regarded as
something marvellous. A race actually came off between No. I. engine,
the "Locomotion," and one of the stage-coaches travelling from Darlington
to Stockton by the ordinary road; and it was regarded as a great triumph
of mechanical skill that the locomotive reached Stockton first, beating
the stage-coach by about a hundred yards! The same engine continued in
good working order in the year 1846, when it headed the railway
procession on the opening of the Middlesborough and Redcar Railway,
travelling at the rate of about fourteen miles an hour. This engine, the
first that travelled upon the first public railway, has recently been
placed upon a pedestal in front of the railway station at Darlington.
For some years, however, the principal haulage of the line was performed
by horses. The inclination of the gradients being towards the sea, this
was perhaps the cheapest mode of traction, so long as the traffic was not
very large. The horse drew the train along the level road, until, on
reaching a descending gradient, down which the train ran by its own
gravity, the animal was unharnessed, and, when loose, he wheeled round to
the other end of the waggons, to which a "dandy-cart" was attached, its
bottom being only a few inches from the rail. Bringing his step into
unison with the speed of the train, the horse learnt to leap nimbly into
his place in this waggon, which was usually fitted with a well-filled
hay-rack.
The details of the working were gradually perfected by experience, the
projectors of the line being scarcely conscious at first of the
importance and significance of the work which they had taken in hand, and
little thinking that they were laying the foundations of a system which
was yet to revolutionise the internal communications of the world, and
confer the greatest blessings on mankind. It is important to note that
the commercial results of the enterprise were considered satisfactory
from the opening of the railway. Besides conferring a great public
benefit upon the inhabitants of the district and throwing open entirely
new markets for coal, the profits derived from the traffic created by the
railway yielded increasing dividends to those who had risked their
capital in the undertaking, and thus held forth an encouragement to the
projectors of railways generally, which was not without an important
effect in stimulating the projection of similar enterprises in other
districts. These results, as displayed in the annual dividends, must
have been eminently encouraging to the astute commercial men of Liverpool
and Manchester, who were then engaged in the prosecution of their
railway. Indeed, the commercial success of the Stockton and Darlington
Company may be justly characterised as the turning-point of the railway
system.
Before leaving this subject, we cannot avoid alluding to one of its most
remarkable and direct results--the creation of the town of
Middlesborough-on-Tees. When the railway was opened in 1825, the site of
this future metropolis of Cleveland was occupied by one solitary
farmhouse and its outbuildings. All round was pasture-land or mud-banks;
scarcely another house was within sight. In 1829 some of the principal
proprietors of the railway joined in the purchase of about 500 or 600
acres of land five miles below Stockton--the site of the modern
Middlesborough--for the purpose of there forming a new seaport for the
shipment of coals brought to the Tees by the railway. The line was
accordingly extended thither; docks were excavated; a town sprang up;
churches, chapels, and schools were built, with a custom-house,
mechanics' institute, banks, shipbuilding yards, and iron-factories. In
ten years a busy population of some 6000 persons (since increased to
about 23,000) occupied the site of the original farmhouse. {144} More
recently, the discovery of vast stores of ironstone in the Cleveland
Hills, closely adjoining Middlesborough, has tended still more rapidly to
augment the population and increase the commercial importance of the
place.
It is pleasing to relate, in connexion with this great work--the Stockton
and Darlington Railway, projected by Edward Pease and executed by George
Stephenson--that when Mr. Stephenson became a prosperous and a celebrated
man, he did not forget the friend who had taken him by the hand, and
helped him on in his early days. He continued to remember Mr. Pease with
gratitude and affection, and that gentleman, to the close of his life,
was proud to exhibit a handsome gold watch, received as a gift from his
celebrated _protege_, bearing these words;--"Esteem and gratitude: from
George Stephenson to Edward Pease."
[Picture: Middlesborough-on-Tees]