ROBERT STEPHENSON'S RESIDENCE IN COLOMBIA, AND RETURN--THE BATTLE OF THE
LOCOMOTIVE--"THE ROCKET."
We return to the career of Robert Stephenson, who had been absent from
England during the construction of the Liverpool railway, but was shortly
about to join his father and take part in "the battle of the locomotive,"
which was now impending.
On his return from Edinburgh College in the summer of 1823, he had
assisted in the survey of the Stockton and Darlington line; and when the
Locomotive Engine Works were started in Forth Street, Newcastle, he took
an active part in that concern. "The factory," he says, "was in active
operation early in 1824; I left England for Colombia in June of that
year, having finished drawing the designs of the Brusselton stationary
engines for the Stockton and Darlington Railway before I left." {193}
Speculation was very rife at the time; and amongst the most promising
adventures were the companies organised for the purpose of working the
gold and silver mines of South America. Great difficulty was experienced
in finding mining engineers capable of carrying out those projects, and
young men of even the most moderate experience were eagerly sought after.
The Columbian Mining Association of London offered an engagement to young
Stephenson, to go out to Mariquita and take charge of the engineering
operations of that company. Robert was himself desirous of accepting it,
but his father said it would first be necessary to ascertain whether the
proposed change would be for his good. His health had been very delicate
for some time, partly occasioned by his rapid growth, but principally
because of his close application to work and study. Father and son
together called upon Dr. Headlam, the eminent physician of Newcastle, to
consult him on the subject. During the examination which ensued, Robert
afterwards used to say that he felt as if he were upon trial for life or
death. To his great relief, the doctor pronounced that a temporary
residence in a warm climate was the very thing likely to be most
beneficial to him. The appointment was accordingly accepted, and, before
many weeks had passed, Robert Stephenson set sail for South America.
After a tolerably prosperous voyage he landed at La Guayra, on the north
coast of Venezuela, on the 23rd July, from thence proceeding to Caraccas,
the capital of the district, about 15 miles inland. There he remained
for two months, unable to proceed in consequence of the wretched state of
the roads in the interior. He contrived, however, to make occasional
excursions in the neighbourhood, with an eye to the mining business on
which he had come. About the beginning of October he set out for Bogota,
the capital of Columbia or New Granada. The distance was about 1200
miles, through a very difficult region, and it was performed entirely
upon mule-back after the fashion of the country.
In the course of the journey Robert visited many of the districts
reported to be rich in minerals, but he met with few traces except of
copper, iron, and coal, with occasional indications of gold and silver.
He found the people ready to furnish information, which, however, when
tested, usually proved worthless. A guide whom he employed for weeks,
kept him buoyed up with the hope of richer mining quarters than he had
yet seen; but when he professed to be able to show him mines of "brass,
steel, alcohol, and pinchbeck," Stephenson discovered him to be an
incorrigible rogue, and immediately dismissed him. At length our
traveller reached Bogota, and after an interview with Mr. Illingworth,
the commercial manager of the mining Company, he proceeded to Honda,
crossed the Magdalena, and shortly after reached the site of his intended
operations on the eastern slopes of the Andes.
Mr. Stephenson used afterwards to speak in glowing terms of this his
first mule-journey in South America. Everything was entirely new to him.
The variety and beauty of the indigenous plants, the luxurious tropical
vegetation, the appearance, manners, and dress of the people, and the
mode of travelling, were altogether different from everything he had
before seen. His own travelling garb also must have been strange even to
himself. "My hat," he says, "was of plaited grass, with a crown nine
inches in height, surrounded by a brim of six inches; a white cotton
suit; and a _ruana_ of blue and crimson plaid, with a hole in the centre
for the head to pass through. This cloak is admirably adapted for the
purpose, amply covering the rider and mule, and at night answering the
purpose of a blanket in the net-hammock, which is made from fibres of the
aloe, and which every traveller carries before him on his mule, and
suspends to the trees or in houses, as occasion may require." The part
of the journey which seems to have made the most lasting impression on
his mind was that between Bogota and the mining district in the
neighbourhood of Mariquita. As he ascended the slopes of the
mountain-range, and reached the first step of the table-land, he was
struck beyond expression with the noble view of the valley of the
Magdalena behind him, so vast that he failed in attempting to define the
point at which the course of the river blended with the horizon. Like
all travellers in the district, he noted the remarkable changes of
climate and vegetation, as he rose from the burning plains towards the
fresh breath of the mountains. From an atmosphere as hot as that of an
oven he passed into delicious cool air; until, in his onward and upward
journey, a still more temperate region was reached, the very perfection
of climate. Before him rose the majestic Cordilleras, forming a rampart
against the western skies, at certain times of the day looking black,
sharp, and, at their summit, almost as even as a wall.
Our engineer took up his abode for a time at Mariquita, a fine old city,
though then greatly decayed. During the period of the Spanish dominion,
it was an important place, most of the gold and silver convoys passing
through it on their way to Cartagena, there to be shipped in galleons for
Europe. The mountainous country to the west was rich in silver, gold,
and other metals, and it was Mr. Stephenson's object to select the best
site for commencing operations for the Company. With this object he
"prospected" about in all directions, visiting long-abandoned mines, and
analysing specimens obtained from many quarters. The mines eventually
fixed upon as the scene of his operations were those of La Manta and
Santa Anna, long before worked by the Spaniards, though, in consequence
of the luxuriance and rapidity of the vegetation, all traces of the old
workings had become completely overgrown and lost. Everything had to be
begun anew. Roads had to be cut to the mines, machinery to be erected,
and the ground opened up, in course of which some of the old adits were
hit upon. The native peons or labourers were not accustomed to work, and
at first they usually contrived to desert when they were not watched, so
that very little progress could be made until the arrival of the expected
band of miners from England. The authorities were by no means helpful,
and the engineer was driven to an old expedient with the object of
overcoming this difficulty. "We endeavour all we can," he says, in one
of his letters, "to make ourselves popular, and this we find most
effectually accomplished by 'regaling the venal beasts.'" {196} He also
gave a ball at Mariquita, which passed off with _eclat_, the governor
from Honda, with a host of friends, honouring it with their presence. It
was, indeed, necessary to "make a party" in this way, as other schemers
were already trying to undermine the Colombian company in influential
directions. The engineer did not exaggerate when he said, "The
uncertainty of transacting business in this country is perplexing beyond
description."
At last, his party of miners arrived from England, but they gave him even
more trouble than the peons had done. They were rough, drunken, and
sometimes altogether ungovernable. He set them to work at the Santa Anna
mine without delay, and at the same time took up his abode amongst them,
"to keep them," he said, "if possible, from indulging in the detestable
vice of drunkenness, which, if not put a stop to, will eventually destroy
themselves, and involve the mining association in ruin." To add to his
troubles, the captain of the miners displayed a very hostile and
insubordinate spirit, quarrelled and fought with the men, and was
insolent to the engineer himself. The captain and his gang, being
Cornish men, told Robert to his face, that because he was a North-country
man, and not born in Cornwall it was impossible he should know anything
of mining. Disease also fell upon him,--first fever, and then visceral
derangement, followed by a return of his "old complaint, a feeling of
oppression in the breast." No wonder that in the midst of these troubles
he should longingly speak of returning to his native land. But he stuck
to his post and his duty, kept up his courage, and by a mixture of
mildness and firmness, and the display of great coolness of judgment, he
contrived to keep the men to their work, and gradually to carry forward
the enterprise which he had undertaken. By the beginning of July, 1826,
we find that quietness and order had been restored, and the works were
proceeding more satisfactorily, though the yield of silver was not as yet
very promising. Mr. Stephenson calculated that at least three years'
diligent and costly operations would be needed to render the mines
productive.
In the mean time he removed to the dwelling which had been erected for
his accommodation at Santa Anna. It was a structure speedily raised
after the fashion of the country.
[Picture: Robert Stephenson's Cottage at Santa Anna]
The walls were of split and flattened bamboo, tied together with the long
fibres of a dried climbing plant; the roof was of palm-leaves, and the
ceiling of reeds. When an earthquake shook the district--for earthquakes
were frequent--the inmates of such a fabric merely felt as if shaken in a
basket, without sustaining any harm. In front of the cottage lay a woody
ravine, extending almost to the base of the Andes, gorgeously clothed in
primeval vegetation--magnolias, palms, bamboos, tree-ferns, acacias,
cedars; and, towering over all, the great almendrons, with their smooth,
silvery stems, bearing aloft noble clusters of pure white blossom. The
forest was haunted by myriads of gay insects, butterflies with wings of
dazzling lustre, birds of brilliant plumage, humming-birds, golden
orioles, toucans, and a host of solitary warblers. But the glorious
sunsets seen from his cottage-porch more than all astonished and
delighted the young engineer; and he was accustomed to say that, after
having witnessed them, he was reluctant to accuse the ancient Peruvians
of idolatry.
But all these natural beauties failed to reconcile him to the harassing
difficulties of his situation, which continued to increase rather than
diminish. He was hampered by the action of the Board at home, who gave
ear to hostile criticisms on his reports; and, although they afterwards
made handsome acknowledgment of his services, he felt his position to be
altogether unsatisfactory. He therefore determined to leave at the
expiry of his three years engagement, and communicated his decision to
the directors accordingly. On receiving his letter, the Board, through
Mr. Richardson, of Lombard street, one of the directors, communicated
with his father at Newcastle, representing that if he would allow his son
to remain in Colombia the Company would make it "worth his while." To
this the father gave a decided negative, and intimated that he himself
needed his son's assistance, and that he must return at the expiry of his
three years' term,--a decision, writes Robert, "at which I feel much
gratified, as it is clear that he is as anxious to have me back in
England as I am to get there." {199} At the same time, Edward Pease, a
principal partner in the Newcastle firm, privately wrote Robert to the
following effect, urging his return home:--"I can assure thee that thy
business at Newcastle, as well as thy father's engineering, have suffered
very much from thy absence, and, unless thou soon return, the former will
be given up, as Mr. Longridge is not able to give it that attention it
requires; and what is done is not done with credit to the house." The
idea of the manufactory being given up, which Robert had laboured so hard
to establish before leaving England, was painful to him in the extreme,
and he wrote to the manager of the Company, strongly urging that
arrangements should be made for him to leave without delay. In the mean
time he was again laid prostrate by another violent attack of aguish
fever; and when able to write in June, 1827, he expressed himself as
"completely wearied and worn down with vexation."
At length, when he was sufficiently recovered from his attack and able to
travel, he set out on his voyage homeward in the beginning of August. At
Mompox, on his way down the river Magdalena, he met Mr. Bodmer, his
successor, with a fresh party of miners from England, on their way up the
country to the quarters which he had just quitted. Next day, six hours
after leaving Mompox, a steamboat was met ascending the river, with
Bolivar the Liberator on board, on his way to St. Bogota; and it was a
mortification to our engineer that he had only a passing sight of that
distinguished person. It was his intention, on leaving Mariquita, to
visit the Isthmus of Panama on his way home, for the purpose of inquiring
into the practicability of cutting a canal to unite the Atlantic and
Pacific--a project which then formed the subject of considerable public
discussion; but his presence being so anxiously desired at home, he
determined to proceed to New York without delay.
Arrived at the port of Cartagena, he had to wait some time for a ship.
The delay was very irksome to him, the more so as the city was then
desolated by the ravages of the yellow fever. While sitting one day in
the large, bare, comfortless public room at the miserable hotel at which
he put up, he observed two strangers, whom he at once perceived to be
English. One of the strangers was a tall, gaunt man, shrunken and
hollow-looking, shabbily dressed, and apparently poverty-stricken. On
making inquiry, he found it was Trevithick, the builder of the first
railroad locomotive! He was returning home from the gold-mines of Peru
penniless. He had left England in 1816, with powerful steam-engines,
intended for the drainage and working of the Peruvian mines. He met with
almost a royal reception on his landing at Lima. A guard of honour was
appointed to attend him, and it was even proposed to erect a statue of
Don Ricardo Trevithick in solid silver. It was given forth in Cornwall
that his emoluments amounted to 100,000 pounds a year, {201} and that he
was making a gigantic fortune. Great, therefore, was Robert Stephenson's
surprise to find this potent Don Ricardo in the inn at Cartagena, reduced
almost to his last shilling, and unable to proceed further. He had
indeed realised the truth of the Spanish proverb, that "a silver-mine
brings misery, a gold-mine ruin." He and his friend had lost everything
in their journey across the country from Peru. They had forded rivers
and wandered through forests, leaving all their baggage behind them, and
had reached thus far with little more than the clothes upon their backs.
Almost the only remnant of precious metal saved by Trevithick was a pair
of silver spurs, which he took back with him to Cornwall. Robert
Stephenson lent him 50 pounds to enable him to reach England; and though
he was afterwards heard of as an inventor there, he had no further part
in the ultimate triumph of the locomotive.
But Trevithick's misadventures on this occasion had not yet ended, for
before he reached New York he was wrecked, and Robert Stephenson with
him. The following is the account of the voyage, "big with adventures,"
as given by the latter in a letter to his friend Illingworth:--"At first
we had very little foul weather, and indeed were for several days
becalmed amongst the islands, which was so far fortunate, for a few
degrees further north the most tremendous gales were blowing, and they
appear (from our future information) to have wrecked every vessel exposed
to their violence. We had two examples of the effects of the hurricane;
for, as we sailed north we took on board the remains of two crews found
floating about on dismantled hulls. The one had been nine days without
food of any kind, except the carcasses of two of their companions who had
died a day or two previously from fatigue and hunger. The other crew had
been driven about for six days, and were not so dejected, but reduced to
such a weak state that they were obliged to be drawn on board our vessel
by ropes. A brig bound for Havannah took part of the men, and we took
the remainder. To attempt any description of my feelings on witnessing
such scenes would be in vain. You will not be surprised to learn that I
felt somewhat uneasy at the thought that we were so far from England, and
that I also might possibly suffer similar shipwreck; but I consoled
myself with the hope that fate would be more kind to us. It was not so
much so, however, as I had flattered myself; for on voyaging towards New
York, after we had made the land, we ran aground about midnight. The
vessel soon filled with water, and, being surrounded by the breaking
surf, the ship was soon split up, and before morning our situation became
perilous. Masts and all were cut away to prevent the hull rocking; but
all we could do was of no avail. About 8 o'clock on the following
morning, after a most miserable night, we were taken off the wreck, and
were so fortunate as to reach the shore. I saved my minerals, but Empson
lost part of his botanical collection. Upon the whole, we got off well;
and, had I not been on the American side of the Atlantic, I 'guess' I
would not have gone to sea again."
After a short tour in the United States and Canada, Robert Stephenson and
his friend took ship for Liverpool, where they arrived at the end of
November, and at once proceeded to Newcastle. The factory was by no
means in a prosperous state. During the time Robert had been in America
it had been carried on at a loss; and Edward Pease, much disheartened,
wished to retire, but George Stephenson was unable to buy him out, and
the establishment had to be carried on in the hope that the locomotive
might yet be established in public estimation as a practical and
economical working power. Robert Stephenson immediately instituted a
rigid inquiry into the working of the concern, unravelled the accounts,
which had fallen into confusion during his father's absence at Liverpool;
and he soon succeeded in placing the affairs of the factory in a more
healthy condition. In all this he had the hearty support of his father,
as well as of the other partners.
The works of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway were now approaching
completion. But, singular to say, the directors had not yet decided as
to the tractive power to be employed in working the line when opened for
traffic. The differences of opinion among them were so great as
apparently to be irreconcilable. It was necessary, however, that they
should come to some decision without further loss of time; and many Board
meetings were accordingly held to discuss the subject. The old-fashioned
and well-tried system of horse haulage was not without its advocates;
but, looking at the large amount of traffic which there was to be
conveyed, and at the probable delay in the transit from station to
station if this method were adopted, the directors, after a visit made by
them to the Northumberland and Durham railways in 1828, came to the
conclusion that the employment of horse power was inadmissible.
Fixed engines had many advocates; the locomotive very few: it stood as
yet almost in a minority of one--George Stephenson. The prejudice
against the employment of the latter power had even increased since the
Liverpool and Manchester Bill underwent its first ordeal in the House of
Commons. In proof of this, we may mention that the Newcastle and
Carlisle Railway Act was conceded in 1829, on the express condition that
it should _not_ be worked by locomotives, but by horses only.
Grave doubts existed as to the practicability of working a large traffic
by means of travelling engines. The most celebrated engineers offered no
opinion on the subject. They did not believe in the locomotive, and
would scarcely take the trouble to examine it. The ridicule with which
George Stephenson had been assailed by the barristers before the
Parliamentary Committee had not been altogether distasteful to them.
Perhaps they did not relish the idea of a man who had picked up his
experience in Newcastle coal-pits appearing in the capacity of a leading
engineer before Parliament, and attempting to establish a new system of
internal communication in the country. The directors could not disregard
the adverse and conflicting views of the professional men whom they
consulted. But Mr. Stephenson had so repeatedly and earnestly urged upon
them the propriety of making a trial of the locomotive before coming to
any decision against it, that they at length authorised him to proceed
with the construction of one of his engines by way of experiment. In
their report to the proprietors at their annual meeting on, the 27th
March, 1828, they state that they had, after due consideration,
authorised the engineer "to prepare a locomotive engine, which, from the
nature of its construction and from the experiments already made, he is
of opinion will be effective for the purposes of the Company, without
proving an annoyance to the public." The locomotive thus ordered was
placed upon the line in 1829, and was found of great service in drawing
the waggons full of marl from the two great cuttings.
In the mean time the discussion proceeded as to the kind of power to be
permanently employed for the working of the railway. The directors were
inundated with schemes of all sorts for facilitating locomotion. The
projectors of England, France, and America, seemed to be let loose upon
them. There were plans for working the waggons along the line by water
power. Some proposed hydrogen, and others carbonic acid gas.
Atmospheric pressure had its eager advocates. And various kinds of fixed
and locomotive steam-power were suggested. Thomas Gray urged his plan of
a greased road with cog rails; and Messrs. Vignolles and Ericsson
recommended the adoption of a central friction rail, against which two
horizontal rollers under the locomotive, pressing upon the sides of this
rail, were to afford the means of ascending the inclined planes. The
directors felt themselves quite unable to choose from amidst this
multitude of projects. The engineer expressed himself as decidedly as
heretofore in favour of smooth rails and locomotive engines, which, he
was confident, would be found the most economical and by far the most
convenient moving power that could be employed. The Stockton and
Darlington Railway being now at work, another deputation went down
personally to inspect the fixed and locomotive engines on that line, as
well as at Hetton and Killingworth. They returned to Liverpool with much
information; but their testimony as to the relative merits of the two
kinds of engines was so contradictory, that the directors were as far
from a decision as ever.
They then resolved to call to their aid two professional engineers of
high standing, who should visit the Darlington and Newcastle railways,
carefully examine both modes of working--the fixed and the
locomotive,--and report to them fully on the subject. The gentlemen
selected were Mr. Walker of Limehouse, and Mr. Rastrick of Stourbridge.
After carefully examining the modes of working the northern railways,
they made their report to the directors in the spring of 1829. They
concurred in the opinion that the cost of an establishment of fixed
engines would be somewhat greater than that of locomotives to do the same
work; but thought the annual charge would be less if the former were
adopted. They calculated that the cost of moving a ton of goods thirty
miles by fixed engines would be 6.40d., and by locomotives,
8.36d.,--assuming a profitable traffic to be obtained both ways. At the
same time it was admitted that there appeared more ground for expecting
improvements in the construction and working of locomotives than of
stationary engines. On the whole, however, and looking especially at the
computed annual charge of working the road on the two systems on a large
scale, the two reporting engineers were of opinion that fixed engines
were preferable, and accordingly recommended their adoption. And, in
order to carry the system recommended by them into effect, they proposed
to divide the railroad between Liverpool and Manchester into nineteen
stages of about a mile and a half each, with twenty-one engines fixed at
the different points to work the trains forward.
Such was the result, so far, of George Stephenson's labours. Two of the
best practical engineers of the day concurred in reporting substantially
in favour of the employment of fixed engines. Not a single professional
man of eminence supported the engineer in his preference for locomotive
over fixed engine power. He had scarcely an adherent, and the locomotive
system seemed on the eve of being abandoned. Still he did not despair.
With the profession as well as public opinion against him--for the most
frightful stories were abroad respecting the dangers, the unsightliness,
and the nuisance which the locomotive would create--Stephenson held to
his purpose. Even in this, apparently the darkest hour of the
locomotive, he did not hesitate to declare that locomotive railroads
would, before many years had passed, be "the great highways of the
world."
He urged his views upon the directors in all ways, and, as some of them
thought, at all seasons. He pointed out the greater convenience of
locomotive power for the purposes of a public highway, likening it to a
series of short unconnected chains, any one of which could be removed and
another substituted without interruption to the traffic; whereas the
fixed engine system might be regarded in the light of a continuous chain
extending between the two termini, the failure of any link of which would
derange the whole. {206} He represented to the Board that the locomotive
was yet capable of great improvements, if proper inducements were held
out to inventors and machinists to make them; and he pledged himself
that, if time were given him, he would construct an engine that should
satisfy their requirements, and prove itself capable of working heavy
loads along the railway with speed, regularity and safety. At length,
influenced by his persistent earnestness not less than by his arguments,
the directors, at the suggestion of Mr. Harrison, determined to offer a
prize of 500 pounds for the best locomotive engine, which, on a certain
day, should be produced on the railway, and perform certain specified
conditions in the most satisfactory manner. {207}
It was now felt that the fate of railways in a great measure depended
upon the issue of this appeal to the mechanical genius of England. When
the advertisement of the prize for the best locomotive was published,
scientific men began more particularly to direct their attention to the
new power which was thus struggling into existence. In the mean time
public opinion on the subject of railway working remained suspended, and
the progress of the undertaking was watched with intense interest.
During the progress of the discussion with reference to the kind of power
to be employed, Mr. Stephenson was in constant communication with his son
Robert, who made frequent visits to Liverpool for the purpose of
assisting his father in the preparation of his reports to the Board on
the subject. They had also many conversations as to the best mode of
increasing the powers and perfecting the mechanism of the locomotive.
These became more frequent and interesting, when the prize was offered
for the best locomotive, and the working plans of the engine which they
proposed to construct came to be settled.
One of the most important considerations in the new engine was the
arrangement of the boiler and the extension of its heating surface to
enable steam enough to be raised rapidly and continuously, for the
purpose of maintaining high rates of speed,--the effect of high-pressure
engines being ascertained to depend mainly upon the quantity of steam
which the boiler can generate, and upon its degree of elasticity when
produced. The quantity of steam so generated, it will be obvious, must
depend chiefly upon the quantity of fuel consumed in the furnace, and by
necessary consequence, upon the high rate of temperature maintained
there.
It will be remembered that in Stephenson's first Killingworth engines he
invented and applied the ingenious method of stimulating combustion in
the furnace, by throwing the waste steam into the chimney after
performing its office in the cylinders, thus accelerating the ascent of
the current of air, greatly increasing the draught, and consequently the
temperature of the fire. This plan was adopted by him, as we have
already seen, as early as 1815; and it was so successful that he himself
attributed to it the greater economy of the locomotive as compared with
horse power. Hence the continuance of its use upon the Killingworth
Railway.
Though the adoption of the steam-blast greatly quickened combustion and
contributed to the rapid production of high-pressure steam, the limited
amount of heating surface presented to the fire was still felt to be an
obstacle to the complete success of the locomotive engine. Mr.
Stephenson endeavoured to overcome this by lengthening the boilers and
increasing the surface presented by the flue-tubes. The "Lancashire
Witch," which he built for the Bolton and Leigh Railway, and used in
forming the Liverpool and Manchester Railway embankments, was constructed
with a double tube, each of which contained a fire and passed
longitudinally through the boiler. But this arrangement necessarily led
to a considerable increase in the weight of the engine, which amounted to
about twelve tons; and as six tons was the limit allowed for engines
admitted to the Liverpool competition, it was clear that the time was
come when the Killingworth locomotive must undergo a further important
modification.
For many years previous to this period, ingenious mechanics had been
engaged in attempting to solve the problem of the best and most
economical boiler for the production of high-pressure steam. As early as
1803, Mr. Woolf patented a tubular boiler, which was extensively employed
at the Cornish mines, and was found greatly to facilitate the production
of steam, by the extension of the heating surface. The ingenious
Trevithick, in his patent of 1815, seems also to have entertained the
idea of employing a boiler constructed of "small perpendicular tubes,"
with the same object of increasing the heating surface. These tubes were
to be closed at the bottom, and open into a common reservoir, from which
they were to receive their water, and where the steam of all the tubes
was to be united.
About the same time George Stephenson was trying the effect of
introducing small tubes in the boilers of his locomotives, with the
object of increasing their evaporative power. Thus, in 1829, he sent to
France two engines constructed at the Newcastle works for the Lyons and
St. Etienne Railway, in the boilers of which tubes were placed containing
water. The heating surface was thus found to be materially increased;
but the expedient was not successful, for the tubes, becoming furred with
deposit, shortly burned out and were removed. It was then that M.
Seguin, the engineer of the railway, pursuing the same idea, adopted his
plan of employing horizontal tubes through which the heated air passed in
streamlets. Mr. Henry Booth, the secretary of the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway, without any knowledge of M. Seguin's proceedings,
next devised his plan of a tubular boiler, which he brought under the
notice of Mr. Stephenson, who at once adopted it, and settled the mode in
which the fire-box and tubes were to be mutually arranged and connected.
This plan was adopted in the construction of the celebrated "Rocket"
engine, the building of which was immediately proceeded with at the
Newcastle works.
The principal circumstances connected with the construction of the
"Rocket," as described by Robert Stephenson to the author, may be briefly
stated. The tubular principle was adopted in a more complete manner than
had yet been attempted. Twenty-five copper tubes, each three inches in
diameter, extended from one end of the boiler to the other, the heated
air passing through them on its way to the chimney; and the tubes being
surrounded by the water of the boiler, it will be obvious that a large
extension of the _heating surface_ was thus effectually secured. The
principal difficulty was in fitting the copper tubes within the boiler so
as to prevent leakage. They were made by a Newcastle coppersmith, and
soldered to brass screws which were screwed into the boiler ends,
standing out in great knobs. When the tubes were thus fitted, and the
boiler was filled with water, hydraulic pressure was applied; but the
water squirted out at every joint, and the factory floor was soon
flooded. Robert went home in despair; and in the first moment of grief,
he wrote to his father that the whole thing was a failure. By return of
post came a letter from his father, telling him that despair was not to
be thought of--that he must "try again;" and he suggested a mode of
overcoming the difficulty, which his son had already anticipated and
proceeded to adopt. It was, to bore clean holes in the boiler ends, fit
in the smooth copper tubes as tightly as possible, solder up, and then
raise the steam. This plan succeeded perfectly, the expansion of the
copper tubes completely filling up all interstices, and producing a
perfectly watertight boiler, capable of withstanding extreme internal
pressure.
The mode of employing the steam-blast for the purpose of increasing the
draught in the chimney, was also the subject of numerous experiments.
When the engine was first tried, it was thought that the blast in the
chimney was not strong enough to keep up the intensity of the fire in the
furnace, so as to produce high-pressure steam in sufficient quantity.
The expedient was therefore adopted of hammering the copper tubes at the
point at which they entered the chimney, whereby the blast was
considerably sharpened; and on a further trial it was found that the
draught was increased to such an extent as to enable abundance of steam
to be raised. The rationale of the blast may be simply explained by
referring to the effect of contracting the pipe of a water-hose, by which
the force of the jet of water is proportionately increased. Widen the
nozzle of the pipe, and the force is in like manner diminished. So is it
with the steam-blast in the chimney of the locomotive.
Doubts were, however, expressed whether the greater draught secured by
the contraction of the blast-pipe was not counterbalanced in some degree
by the negative pressure upon the piston. A series of experiments was
made with pipes of different diameters; the amount of vacuum produced
being determined by a glass tube open at both ends, which was fixed to
the bottom of the smoke-box, and descended into a bucket of water. As
the rarefaction took place, the water would of course rise in the tube;
and the height to which it rose above the surface of the water in the
bucket was made the measure of the amount of rarefaction. These
experiments proved that a considerable increase of draught was obtained
by the contraction of the orifice; accordingly, the two blast-pipes
opening from the cylinders into either side of the "Rocket" chimney, and
turned up within it, were contracted slightly below the area of the
steam-ports; and before the engine left the factory, the water rose in
the glass tube three inches above the water in the bucket.
[Picture: The "Rocket"]
The other arrangements of the "Rocket" were briefly these:--the boiler
was cylindrical with flat ends, 6 feet in length, and 3 feet 4 inches in
diameter. The upper half of the boiler was used as a reservoir for the
steam, the lower half being filled with water. Through the lower part,
25 copper tubes of 3 inches diameter extended, which were open to the
fire-box at one end, and to the chimney at the other. The fire-box, or
furnace, 2 feet wide and 3 feet high, was attached immediately behind the
boiler, and was also surrounded with water. The cylinders of the engine
were placed on each side of the boiler, in an oblique position, one end
being nearly level with the top of the boiler at its after end, and the
other pointing towards the centre of the foremost or driving pair of
wheels, with which the connection was directly made from the piston-rod,
to a pin on the outside of the wheel. The engine, together with its load
of water, weighed only 4.25 tons, and was supported on four wheels, not
coupled. The tender was four-wheeled, and similar in shape to a
waggon,--the foremost part holding the fuel, and the hind part a
water-cask.
When the "Rocket" was finished, it was placed upon the Killingworth
railway for the purpose of experiment. The new boiler arrangement was
found perfectly successful. The steam was raised rapidly and
continuously, and in a quantity which then appeared marvellous. The same
evening Robert despatched a letter to his father at Liverpool, informing
him, to his great joy, that the "Rocket" was "all right," and would be in
complete working trim by the day of trial. The engine was shortly after
sent by waggon to Carlisle, and thence shipped for Liverpool.
The time so much longed for by George Stephenson had now arrived, when
the merit of the passenger locomotive was to be put to a public test. He
had fought the battle for it until now almost single-handed. Engrossed
by his daily labours and anxieties, and harassed by difficulties and
discouragements which would have crushed the spirit of a less resolute
man, he had held firmly to his purpose through good and through evil
report. The hostility which he experienced from some of the directors
opposed to the adoption of the locomotive, was the circumstance that
caused him the greatest grief of all; for where he had looked for
encouragement, he found only carping and opposition. But his pluck never
failed him; and now the "Rocket" was upon the ground,--to prove, to use
his own words, "whether he was a man of his word or not."
Great interest was felt at Liverpool, as well as throughout the country,
in the approaching competition. Engineers, scientific men, and
mechanics, arrived from all quarters to witness the novel display of
mechanical ingenuity on which such great results depended. The public
generally were no indifferent spectators either. The inhabitants of
Liverpool, Manchester, and the adjacent towns felt that the successful
issue of the experiment would confer upon them individual benefits and
local advantages almost incalculable, whilst populations at a distance
waited for the result with almost equal interest.
On the day appointed for the great competition of locomotives at
Rainhill, the following engines were entered for the prize:--
1. Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson's "Novelty." {214}
2. Mr. Timothy Hackworth's "Sanspareil."
3. Messrs. R. Stephenson and Co.'s "Rocket."
4. Mr. Burstall's "Perseverance."
Another engine was entered by Mr. Brandreth of Liverpool--the "Cycloped,"
weighing 3 tons, worked by a horse in a frame, but it could not be
admitted to the competition. The above were the only four exhibited, out
of a considerable number of engines constructed in different parts of the
country in anticipation of this contest, many of which could not be
satisfactorily completed by the day of trial.
The ground on which the engines were to be tried was a level piece of
railroad, about two miles in length. Each was required to make twenty
trips, or equal to a journey of 70 miles, in the course of the day; and
the average rate of travelling was to be not under 10 miles an hour. It
was determined that, to avoid confusion, each engine should be tried
separately, and on different days.
[Picture: Locomotive competition at Rainhill]
The day fixed for the competition was the 1st of October, but to allow
sufficient time to get the locomotives into good working order, the
directors extended it to the 6th. On the morning of the 6th, the ground
at Rainhill presented a lively appearance, and there was as much
excitement as if the St. Leger were about to be run. Many thousand
spectators looked on, amongst whom were some of the first engineers and
mechanicians of the day. A stand was provided for the ladies; the
"beauty and fashion" of the neighbourhood were present, and the side of
the railroad was lined with carriages of all descriptions.
It was quite characteristic of the Stephensons, that, although their
engine did not stand first on the list for trial, it was the first that
was ready; and it was accordingly ordered out by the judges for an
experimental trip. Yet the "Rocket" was by no means "the favourite" with
either the judges or the spectators. A majority of the judges was
strongly predisposed in favour of the "Novelty," and nine-tenths of those
present were against the "Rocket" because of its appearance. Nearly
every person favoured some other engine, so that there was nothing for
the "Rocket" but the practical test. The first trip which it made was
quite successful. It ran about 12 miles, without interruption, in about
53 minutes.
The "Novelty" was next called out. It was a light engine, very compact
in appearance, carrying the water and fuel upon the same wheels as the
engine. The weight of the whole was only 3 tons and 1 hundredweight. A
peculiarity of this engine was that the air was driven or forced through
the fire by means of bellows. The day being now far advanced, and some
dispute having arisen as to the method of assigning the proper load for
the "Novelty," no particular experiment was made, further than that the
engine traversed the line by way of exhibition, occasionally moving at
the rate of 24 miles an hour. The "Sanspareil," constructed by Mr.
Timothy Hackworth, was next exhibited; but no particular experiment was
made with it on this day.
The contest was postponed until the following day, but before the judges
arrived on the ground, the bellows for creating the blast in the
"Novelty" gave way, and it was found incapable of going through its
performance. A defect was also detected in the boiler of the
"Sanspareil;" and some further time was allowed to get it repaired. The
large number of spectators who had assembled to witness the contest were
greatly disappointed at this postponement; but, to lessen it, Stephenson
again brought out the "Rocket," and, attaching to it a coach containing
thirty persons, he ran them along the line at the rate of from 24 to 30
miles an hour, much to their gratification and amazement. Before
separating, the judges ordered the engine to be in readiness by eight
o'clock on the following morning, to go through its definitive trial
according to the prescribed conditions.
On the morning of the 8th October, the "Rocket" was again ready for the
contest. The engine was taken to the extremity of the stage, the
fire-box was filled with coke, the fire lighted, and the steam raised
until it lifted the safety-valve loaded to a pressure of 50 pounds to the
square inch. This proceeding occupied fifty-seven minutes. The engine
then started on its journey, dragging after it about 13 tons weight in
waggons, and made the first ten trips backwards and forwards along the
two miles of road, running the 35 miles, including stoppages, in one hour
and 48 minutes. The second ten trips were in like manner performed in 2
hours and 3 minutes. The maximum velocity attained during the trial trip
was 29 miles an hour, or about three times the speed that one of the
judges of the competition had declared to be the limit of possibility.
The average speed at which the whole of the journeys were performed was
15 miles an hour, or 5 miles beyond the rate specified in the conditions
published by the Company. The entire performance excited the greatest
astonishment amongst the assembled spectators; the directors felt
confident that their enterprise was now on the eve of success; and George
Stephenson rejoiced to think that in spite of all false prophets and
fickle counsellors, the locomotive system was now safe. When the
"Rocket," having performed all the conditions of the contest, arrived at
the "grand stand" at the close of its day's successful run, Mr.
Cropper--one of the directors favourable to the fixed-engine
system--lifted up his hands, and exclaimed, "Now has George Stephenson at
last delivered himself!"
Neither the "Novelty" nor the "Sanspareil" was ready for trial until the
10th, on the morning of which day an advertisement appeared, stating that
the former engine was to be tried on that day, when it would perform more
work than any engine upon the ground. The weight of the carriages
attached to it was only about 7 tons. The engine passed the first post
in good style; but in returning, the pipe from the forcing-pump burst and
put an end to the trial. The pipe was afterwards repaired, and the
engine made several trips by itself, in which it was said to have gone at
the rate of from 24 to 28 miles an hour.
The "Sanspareil" was not ready until the 13th; and when its boiler and
tender were filled with water, it was found to weigh 4 cwt. beyond the
weight specified in the published conditions as the limit of four-wheeled
engines; nevertheless the judges allowed it to run on the same footing as
the other engines, to enable them to ascertain whether its merits
entitled it to favourable consideration. It travelled at the average
speed of about 14 miles an hour, with its load attached; but at the
eighth trip the cold-water pump got wrong, and the engine could proceed
no further.
It was determined to award the premium to the successful engine on the
following day, the 14th, on which occasion there was an unusual
assemblage of spectators. The owners of the "Novelty" pleaded for
another trial; and it was conceded. But again it broke down. The owner
of the "Sanspareil" also requested the opportunity for making another
trial of his engine. But the judges had now had enough of failures; and
they declined, on the ground that not only was the engine above the
stipulated weight, but that it was constructed on a plan which they could
not recommend for adoption by the directors of the Company. One of the
principal practical objections to this locomotive was the enormous
quantity of coke consumed or wasted by it--about 692 lbs. per hour when
travelling--caused by the sharpness of the steam-blast in the chimney,
which blew a large proportion of the burning coke into the air.
The "Perseverance" was found unable to move at more than five or six
miles an hour; and it was withdrawn from the contest at an early period.
The "Rocket" was thus the only engine that had performed, and more than
performed, all the stipulated conditions; and its owners were declared to
be fully entitled to the prize of 500 pounds, which was awarded to the
Messrs. Stephenson and Booth accordingly. And further, to show that the
engine had been working quite within its powers, Mr. Stephenson ordered
it to be brought upon the ground and detached from all incumbrances,
when, in making two trips, it was found to travel at the astonishing rate
of 35 miles an hour.
The "Rocket" had thus eclipsed the performances of all locomotive engines
that had yet been constructed, and outstripped even the sanguine
expectations of its constructors. It satisfactorily answered the report
of Messrs. Walker and Rastrick; and established the efficiency of the
locomotive for working the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and indeed
all future railways. The "Rocket" showed that a new power had been born
into the world, full of activity and strength, with boundless capability
of work. It was the simple but admirable contrivance of the steam-blast,
and its combination with the multitubular boiler, that at once gave the
locomotive a vigorous life, and secured the triumph of the railway
system. {219} It has been well observed, that this wonderful ability to
increase and multiply its powers of performance with the emergency that
demands them, has made this giant engine the noblest creation of human
wit, the very lion among machines. The success of the Rainhill
experiment, as judged by the public, may be inferred from the fact that
the shares of the Company immediately rose ten per cent., and nothing
more was heard of the proposed twenty-one fixed engines, engine-houses,
ropes, etc. All this cumbersome apparatus was thenceforward effectually
disposed of.
Very different now was the tone of those directors who had distinguished
themselves by the persistency of their opposition to Mr. Stephenson's
plans. Coolness gave way to eulogy, and hostility to unbounded offers of
friendship--after the manner of many men who run to the help of the
strong. Deeply though the engineer had felt aggrieved by the conduct
pursued towards him during this eventful struggle, by some from whom
forbearance was to have been expected, he never entertained towards them
in after life any angry feelings; on the contrary, he forgave all. But
though the directors afterwards passed unanimous resolutions eulogising
"the great skill and unwearied energy" of their engineer, he himself,
when speaking confidentially to those with whom he was most intimate,
could not help pointing out the difference between his "foul-weather and
fair-weather friends." Mr. Gooch says of him that though naturally most
cheerful and kind-hearted in his disposition, the anxiety and pressure
which weighed upon his mind during the construction of the railway, had
the effect of making him occasionally impatient and irritable, like a
spirited horse touched by the spur; though his original good-nature from
time to time shone through it all. When the line had been brought to a
successful completion, a very marked change in him became visible. The
irritability passed away, and when difficulties and vexations arose they
were treated by him as matters of course, and with perfect composure and
cheerfulness.
[Picture: Railway versus Road]