OPENING OF THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY, AND EXTENSION OF THE
RAILWAY SYSTEM.
The directors of the Railway now began to see daylight; and they derived
encouragement from the skilful manner in which their engineer had
overcome the principal difficulties of the undertaking. He had formed a
solid road over Chat Moss, and thus achieved one "impossibility;" and he
had constructed a locomotive that could run at a speed of 30 miles an
hour, thus vanquishing a still more formidable difficulty.
A single line of way was completed over Chat Moss by the 1st of January,
1830; and on that day, the "Rocket" with a carriage full of directors,
engineers, and their friends, passed along the greater part of the road
between Liverpool and Manchester. Mr. Stephenson continued to direct his
close attention to the improvement of the details of the locomotive,
every successive trial of which proved more satisfactory. In this
department he had the benefit of the able and unremitting assistance of
his son, who, in the workshops at Newcastle, directly superintended the
construction of the new engines required for the public working of the
railway. He did not by any means rest satisfied with the success,
decided though it was, which had been achieved by the "Rocket." He
regarded it but in the light of a successful experiment; and every
succeeding engine placed upon the railway exhibited some improvement on
its predecessors. The arrangement of the parts, and the weight and
proportions of the engines, were altered, as the experience of each
successive day, or week, or month, suggested; and it was soon found that
the performances of the "Rocket" on the day of trial had been greatly
within the powers of the locomotive.
The first entire trip between Liverpool and Manchester was performed on
the 14th of June, 1830, on the occasion of a Board meeting being held at
the latter town. The train was on this occasion drawn by the "Arrow,"
one of the new locomotives, in which the most recent improvements had
been adopted. Mr. Stephenson himself drove the engine, and Captain
Scoresby, the circumpolar navigator, stood beside him on the foot-plate,
and minuted the speed of the train. A great concourse of people
assembled at both termini, as well as along the line, to witness the
novel spectacle of a train of carriages dragged by an engine at a speed
of 17 miles an hour. On the return journey to Liverpool in the evening,
the "Arrow" crossed Chat Moss at a speed of nearly 27 miles an hour,
reaching its destination in about an hour and a half.
In the mean time Mr. Stephenson and his assistants were diligently
occupied in making the necessary preliminary arrangements for the conduct
of the traffic against the time when the line should be ready for
opening. The experiments made with the object of carrying on the
passenger traffic at quick velocities were of an especially harassing and
anxious character. Every week, for nearly three months before the
opening, trial trips were made to Newton and back, generally with two or
three trains following each other, and carrying altogether from 200 to
300 persons. These trips were usually made on Saturday afternoons, when
the works could be more conveniently stopped and the line cleared. In
these experiments Mr. Stephenson had the able assistance of Mr. Henry
Booth, the secretary of the Company, who contrived many of the
arrangements in the rolling stock, not the least valuable of which was
his invention of the coupling screw, still in use on all passenger
railways.
At length the line was finished, and ready for the public ceremony of the
opening, which took place on the 15th September, 1830, and attracted a
vast number of spectators. The completion of the railway was justly
regarded as an important national event, and the opening was celebrated
accordingly. The Duke of Wellington, then Prime Minister, Sir Robert
Peel, and Mr. Huskisson, one of the members for Liverpool, were among the
number of distinguished public personages present.
Eight locomotive engines, constructed at the Stephenson works, had been
delivered and placed upon the line, the whole of which had been tried and
tested weeks before, with perfect success. The several trains of
carriages accommodated in all about six hundred persons. The procession
was cheered in its progress by thousands of spectators--through the deep
ravine of Olive Mount; up the Sutton incline; over the great Sankey
viaduct, beneath which a great multitude of persons had
assembled,--carriages filling the narrow lanes, and barges crowding the
river; the people below gazing with wonder and admiration at the trains
which sped along the line, far above their heads, at the rate of some 24
miles an hour.
At Parkside, about 17 miles from Liverpool, the engines stopped to take
in water. Here a deplorable accident occurred to one of the illustrious
visitors, which threw a deep shadow over the subsequent proceedings of
the day. The "Northumbrian" engine, with the carriage containing the
Duke of Wellington, was drawn up on one line, in order that the whole of
the trains on the other line might pass in review before him and his
party. Mr. Huskisson had alighted from the carriage, and was standing on
the opposite road, along which the "Rocket" was observed rapidly coming
up. At this moment the Duke of Wellington, between whom and Mr.
Huskisson some coolness had existed, made a sign of recognition, and held
out his hand. A hurried but friendly grasp was given; and before it was
loosened there was a general cry from the bystanders of "Get in, get in!"
Flurried and confused, Mr. Huskisson endeavoured to get round the open
door of the carriage, which projected over the opposite rail; but in so
doing he was struck down by the "Rocket," and falling with his leg
doubled across the rail, the limb was instantly crushed. His first
words, on being raised, were, "I have met my death," which unhappily
proved true, for he expired that same evening in the parsonage of Eccles.
It was cited at the time as a remarkable fact, that the "Northumbrian"
engine, driven by George Stephenson himself, conveyed the wounded body of
the unfortunate gentleman a distance of about 15 miles in 25 minutes, or
at the rate of 36 miles an hour. This incredible speed burst upon the
world with the effect of a new and unlooked-for phenomenon.
The accident threw a gloom over the rest of the day's proceedings. The
Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel expressed a wish that the
procession should return to Liverpool. It was, however, represented to
them that a vast concourse of people had assembled at Manchester to
witness the arrival of the trains; that report would exaggerate the
mischief, if they did not complete the journey; and that a false panic on
that day might seriously affect future railway travelling and the value
of the Company's property. The party consented accordingly to proceed to
Manchester, but on the understanding that they should return as soon as
possible, and refrain from further festivity.
As the trains approached Manchester, crowds of people were found covering
the banks, the slopes of the cuttings, and even the railway itself. The
multitude, become impatient and excited by the rumours which reached
them, had outflanked the military, and all order was at an end. The
people clambered about the carriages, holding on by the door-handles, and
many were tumbled over; but, happily no fatal accident occurred. At the
Manchester station, the political element began to display itself;
placards about "Peterloo," etc., were exhibited, and brickbats were
thrown at the carriage containing the Duke. On the carriages coming to a
stand in the Manchester station the Duke did not descend, but remained
seated, shaking hands with the women and children who were pushed forward
by the crowd. Shortly after, the trains returned to Liverpool, which
they reached, after considerable interruptions, in the dark, at a late
hour.
On the following morning the railway was opened for public traffic. The
first train of 140 passengers was booked and sent on to Manchester,
reaching it in the allotted period of two hours; and from that time the
traffic has regularly proceeded from day to day until now.
It is scarcely necessary that we should speak at any length of the
commercial results of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Suffice it
to say that its success was complete and decisive. The anticipations of
its projectors were, however, in many respects at fault. They had based
their calculations almost entirely on the heavy merchandise traffic--such
as coal, cotton, and timber,--relying little upon passengers; whereas the
receipts derived from the conveyance of passengers far exceeded those
derived from merchandise of all kinds, which, for a time continued a
subordinate branch of the traffic.
For some time after the public opening of the line, Mr. Stephenson's
ingenuity continued to be employed in devising improved methods for
securing the safety and comfort of the travelling public. Few are aware
of the thousand minute details which have to be arranged--the forethought
and contrivance that have to be exercised--to enable the traveller by
railway to accomplish his journey in safety. After the difficulties of
constructing a level road over bogs, across valleys, and through deep
cuttings, have been overcome, the maintenance of the way has to be
provided for with continuous care. Every rail with its fastenings must
be complete, to prevent risk of accident; and the road must be kept
regularly ballasted up to the level, to diminish the jolting of vehicles
passing over it at high speeds. Then the stations must be protected by
signals observable from such a distance as to enable the train to be
stopped in event of an obstacle, such as a stopping or shunting train
being in the way. For some years the signals employed on the Liverpool
railway were entirely given by men with flags of different colours
stationed along the line; there were no fixed signals, nor electric
telegraphs; but the traffic was nevertheless worked quite as safely as
under the more elaborate and complicated system of telegraphing which has
since been established.
From an early period it became obvious that the iron road as originally
laid down was far too weak for the heavy traffic which it had to carry.
The line was at first laid with fish-bellied rails weighing thirty-five
pounds to the yard, calculated only for horse-traffic, or, at most, for
engines like the "Rocket," of very light weight. But as the power and
the weight of the locomotives were increased, it was found that such
rails were quite insufficient for the safe conduct of the traffic, and it
therefore became necessary to re-lay the road with heavier and stronger
rails at considerably increased expense.
The details of the carrying stock had in like manner to be settled by
experience. Everything had, as it were, to be begun from the beginning.
The coal-waggon, it is true, served in some degree as a model for the
railway-truck; but the railway passenger-carriage was an entirely novel
structure. It had to be mounted upon strong framing, of a peculiar kind,
supported on springs to prevent jolting. Then there was the necessity
for contriving some method of preventing hard bumping of the
carriage-ends when the train was pulled up; and hence the contrivance of
buffer-springs and spring frames. For the purpose of stopping the train,
brakes on an improved plan were also contrived, with new modes of
lubricating the carriage-axles, on which the wheels revolved at an
unusually high velocity. In all these arrangements, Mr. Stephenson's
inventiveness was kept constantly on the stretch; and though many
improvements in detail have been effected since his time, the foundations
were then laid by him of the present system of conducting railway
traffic. As an illustration of the inventive ingenuity which he
displayed in providing for the working of the Liverpool line, we may
mention his contrivance of the Self-acting Brake. He early entertained
the idea that the momentum of the running train might itself be made
available for the purpose of checking its speed. He proposed to fit each
carriage with a brake which should be called into action immediately on
the locomotive at the head of the train being pulled up. The impetus of
the carriages carrying them forward, the buffer-springs would be driven
home and, at the same time, by a simple arrangement of the mechanism, the
brakes would be called into simultaneous action; thus the wheels would be
brought into a state of sledge, and the train speedily stopped. This
plan was adopted by Mr. Stephenson before he left the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway, though it was afterwards discontinued; but it is a
remarkable fact, that this identical plan, with the addition of a
centrifugal apparatus, has quite recently been revived by M. Guerin, a
French engineer, and extensively employed on foreign railways, as the
best method of stopping railway trains in the most efficient manner and
in the shortest time.
Finally, Mr. Stephenson had to attend to the improvement of the power and
speed of the locomotive--always the grand object of his study,--with a
view to economy as well as regularity of working. In the "Planet"
engine, delivered upon the line immediately subsequent to the public
opening, all the improvements which had up to that time been contrived by
him and his son were introduced in combination--the blast-pipe, the
tubular boiler, horizontal cylinders inside the smoke-box, the cranked
axle, and the fire-box firmly fixed to the boiler. The first load of
goods conveyed from Liverpool to Manchester by the "Planet" was 80 tons
in weight, and the engine performed the journey against a strong head
wind in 2.5 hours. On another occasion, the same engine brought up a
cargo of voters from Manchester to Liverpool, during a contested
election, within a space of sixty minutes! The "Samson," delivered in
the following year, exhibited still further improvements, the most
important of which was that of _coupling_ the fore and hind wheels of the
engine. By this means, the adhesion of the wheels on the rails was more
effectually secured, and thus the full hauling power of the locomotive
was made available. The "Samson," shortly after it was placed upon the
line, dragged after it a train of waggons weighing 150 tons at a speed of
about 20 miles an hour; the consumption of coke being reduced to only
about a third of a pound per ton per mile.
The success of the Liverpool and Manchester experiment naturally excited
great interest. People flocked to Lancashire from all quarters to see
the steam-coach running upon a railway at three times the speed of a
mailcoach, and to enjoy the excitement of actually travelling in the wake
of an engine at that incredible velocity. The travellers returned to
their respective districts full of the wonders of the locomotive,
considering it to be the greatest marvel of the age. Railways are
familiar enough objects now, and our children who grow up in their midst
may think little of them; but thirty years since it was an event in one's
life to see a locomotive, and to travel for the first time upon a public
railroad.
The practicability of railway locomotion being now proved, and its great
social and commercial advantages ascertained, the general extension of
the system was merely a question of time, money, and labour. Although
the legislature took no initiative step in the direction of railway
extension, the public spirit and enterprise of the country did not fail
it at this juncture. The English people, though they may be defective in
their capacity for organization, are strong in individualism; and not
improbably their admirable qualities in the latter respect detract from
their efficiency in the former. Thus, in all times, their greatest
enterprises have not been planned by officialism and carried out upon any
regular system, but have sprung, like their constitution, their laws, and
their entire industrial arrangements, from the force of circumstances and
the individual energies of the people.
The mode of action in the case of railway extension, was characteristic
and national. The execution of the new lines was undertaken entirely by
joint-stock associations of proprietors, after the manner of the Stockton
and Darlington, and Liverpool and Manchester companies. These
associations are conformable to our national habits, and fit well into
our system of laws. They combine the power of vast resources with
individual watchfulness and motives of self-interest; and by their means
gigantic undertakings, which otherwise would be impossible to any but
kings and emperors with great national resources at command, were carried
out by the co-operation of private persons. And the results of this
combination of means and of enterprise have been truly marvellous.
Within the life of the present generation, the private citizens of
England engaged in railway extension have, in the face of Government
obstructions, and without taking a penny from the public purse, executed
a system of communications involving works of the most gigantic kind,
which, in their total mass, their cost, and their public utility, far
exceed the most famous national undertakings of any age or country.
Mr. Stephenson was of course, actively engaged in the construction of the
numerous railways now projected by the joint-stock companies. The desire
for railway extension principally pervaded the manufacturing districts,
especially after the successful opening of the Liverpool and Manchester
line. The commercial classes of the larger towns soon became eager for a
participation in the good which they had so recently derided. Railway
projects were set on foot in great numbers, and Manchester became a
centre from which main lines and branches were started in all directions.
The interest, however, which attaches to these later schemes is of a much
less absorbing kind than that which belongs to the earlier history of the
railway and the steps by which it was mainly established. We naturally
sympathise more keenly with the early struggles of a great principle, its
trials and its difficulties, than with its after stages of success; and,
however gratified and astonished we may be at its consequences, the
interest is in a great measure gone when its triumph has become a matter
of certainty.
The commercial results of the Liverpool and Manchester line were so
satisfactory, and indeed so greatly exceeded the expectations of its
projectors, that many of the abandoned projects of the speculative year
1825 were forthwith revived. An abundant crop of engineers sprang up,
ready to execute railways of any extent. Now that the Liverpool and
Manchester line had been made, and the practicability of working it by
locomotive power had been proved, it was as easy for engineers to make
railways and to work them, as it was for navigators to find America after
Columbus had made the first voyage. Mr. Francis Giles attached himself
to the Newcastle and Carlisle and London and Southampton projects. Mr.
Brunel appeared as engineer of the line projected between London and
Bristol; and Mr. Braithwaite, the builder of the "Novelty" engine, acted
in the same capacity for a railway from London to Colchester.
The first lines constructed subsequent to the opening of the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway, were mostly in connection with it, and
principally in the county of Lancaster. Thus a branch was formed from
Bolton to Leigh, and another from Leigh to Kenyon, where it formed a
junction with the main line between Liverpool and Manchester. Branches
to Wigan on the north, and to Runcorn Gap and Warrington on the south of
the same line, were also formed. A continuation of the latter, as far
south as Birmingham, was shortly after projected under the name of the
Grand Junction Railway.
The last mentioned line was projected as early as the year 1824, when the
Liverpool and Manchester scheme was under discussion, and Mr. Stephenson
then published a report on the subject. The plans were deposited, but
the bill was thrown out through the opposition of the landowners and
canal proprietors. When engaged in making the survey, Stephenson called
upon some of the landowners in the neighbourhood of Nantwich to obtain
their assent, and was greatly disgusted to learn that the agents of the
canal companies had been before him, and described the locomotive to the
farmers as a most frightful machine, emitting a breath as poisonous as
the fabled dragon of old; and telling them that if a bird flew over the
district where one of these engines passed, it would inevitably drop down
dead! The application for the bill was renewed in 1826, and again
failed; and at length it was determined to wait the issue of the
Liverpool and Manchester experiment. The act was eventually obtained in
1833.
When it was proposed to extend the advantages of railways to the
population of the midland and southern counties of England, an immense
amount of alarm was created in the minds of the country gentlemen. They
did not relish the idea of private individuals, principally resident in
the manufacturing districts, invading their domains; and they everywhere
rose up in arms against the "new-fangled roads." Colonel Sibthorpe
openly declared his hatred of the "infernal railroads," and said that he
"would rather meet a highwayman, or see a burglar on his premises, than
an engineer!" The impression which prevailed in the rural districts was,
that fox-covers and game-preserves would be seriously prejudiced by the
formation of railroads; that agricultural communications would be
destroyed, land thrown out of cultivation, landowners and farmers reduced
to beggary, the poor-rates increased through the number of persons thrown
out of employment by the railways,--and all this in order that Liverpool,
Manchester, and Birmingham shopkeepers and manufacturers might establish
a monstrous monopoly in railway traffic.
The inhabitants of even some of the large towns were thrown into a state
of consternation by the proposal to provide them with the accommodation
of a railway. The line from London to Birmingham would naturally have
passed close to the handsome town of Northampton, and was so projected;
but the inhabitants of the shire, urged on by the local press, and
excited by men of influence and education, opposed the project, and
succeeded in forcing the promoters, in their survey of the line, to pass
the town at a distance. When the first railway through Kent was
projected, the line was laid out so as to pass by Maidstone, the county
town. But it had not a single supporter amongst the townspeople, whilst
the landowners for many miles round combined to oppose it. In like
manner, the line projected from London to Bristol was strongly denounced
by the inhabitants of the intermediate districts; and when the first bill
was thrown out, Eton assembled under the presidency of the Marquis of
Chandos to congratulate the country upon its defeat.
During the time that the works of the Liverpool and Manchester line were
in progress, our engineer was consulted respecting a short railway
proposed to be formed between Leicester and Swannington, for the purpose
of opening up a communication between the town of Leicester and the
coal-fields in the western part of the county. The projector of this
undertaking had some difficulty in getting the requisite capital
subscribed for, the Leicester townspeople who had money being for the
most part interested in canals. George Stephenson was invited to come
upon the ground and survey the line. He did so, and then the projector
told him of the difficulty he had in finding subscribers to the concern.
"Give me a sheet," said Stephenson, "and I will raise the money for you
in Liverpool." The engineer was as good as his word, and in a short time
the sheet was returned with the subscription complete. Mr. Stephenson
was then asked to undertake the office of engineer for the line, but his
answer was that he had thirty miles of railway in hand, which were enough
for any engineer to attend to properly. Was there any person he could
recommend? "Well," said he, "I think my son Robert is competent to
undertake the thing." Would Mr. Stephenson be answerable for him? "Oh,
yes, certainly." And Robert Stephenson, at twenty-seven years of age,
was installed engineer of the line accordingly.
[Picture: Map of Leicester and Swannington Railway]
The requisite Parliamentary powers having been obtained, Robert
Stephenson proceeded with the construction of the railway, about 16 miles
in length, towards the end of 1830. The works were comparatively easy,
excepting at the Leicester end, where the young engineer encountered his
first stiff bit of tunnelling. The line passed underground for 1.75
mile, and 500 yards of its course lay in loose dry running sand. The
presence of this material rendered it necessary for the engineer first to
construct a wooden tunnel to support the soil while the brickwork was
being executed. This proved sufficient, and the whole was brought to a
successful termination within a reasonable time. While the works were in
progress, Robert kept up a regular correspondence with his father at
Liverpool, consulting him on all points in which his greater experience
was likely to be of service. Like his father, Robert was very observant,
and always ready to seize opportunity by the forelock. It happened that
the estate of Snibston, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, was advertised for sale;
and the young engineer's experience as a coal-viewer and practical
geologist suggested to his mind that coal was most probably to be found
underneath. He communicated his views to his father on the subject. The
estate lay in the immediate neighbourhood of the railway; and if the
conjecture proved correct, the finding of coal would necessarily greatly
enhance its value. He accordingly requested his father to come over to
Snibston and look at the property, which he did; and after a careful
inspection of the ground, he arrived at the same conclusion as his son.
The large manufacturing town of Leicester, about fourteen miles distant,
had up to that time been exclusively supplied with coal brought by canal
from Derbyshire; and Mr. Stephenson saw that the railway under
construction from Swannington to Leicester, would furnish him with a
ready market for any coals which he might find at Snibston. Having
induced two of his Liverpool friends to join him in the venture, the
Snibston estate was purchased in 1831: and shortly after, Stephenson
removed his home from Liverpool to Alton Grange, for the purpose of
superintending the sinking of the pit. He travelled thither by gig with
his wife,--his favourite horse "Bobby" performing the journey by easy
stages.
Sinking operations were immediately begun, and proceeded satisfactorily
until the old enemy, water, burst in upon the workmen, and threatened to
drown them out. But by means of efficient pumping-engines, and the
skilful casing of the shaft with segments of cast-iron--a process called
"tubbing," {234} which Mr. Stephenson was the first to adopt in the
Midland Counties--it was eventually made water-tight, and the sinking
proceeded. When a depth of 166 feet had been reached, a still more
formidable difficulty presented itself--one which had baffled former
sinkers in the neighbourhood, and deterred them from further operations.
This was a remarkable bed of whinstone or green-stone, which had
originally been poured out as a sheet of burning lava over the denuded
surface of the coal measures; indeed it was afterwards found that it had
turned to cinders one part of the seam of coal with which it had come in
contact. The appearance of this bed of solid rock was so unusual a
circumstance in coal mining, that some experienced sinkers urged
Stephenson to proceed no further, believing the occurrence of the dyke at
that point to be altogether fatal to his enterprise. But, with his faith
still firm in the existence of coal underneath, he fell back on his old
motto of "Persevere." He determined to go on boring; and down through
the solid rock he went until, twenty-two feet lower, he came upon the
coal measures. In the mean time, however, lest the boring at that point
should prove unsuccessful, he had commenced sinking another pair of
shafts about a quarter of a mile west of the "fault;" and after about
nine months' labour he reached the principal seam, called the "main
coal."
The works were then opened out on a large scale, and Mr. Stephenson had
the pleasure and good fortune to send the first train of main coal to
Leicester by railway. The price was immediately reduced to about 8s. a
ton, effecting a pecuniary saving to the inhabitants of the town of about
40,000 pounds per annum, or equivalent to the whole amount then collected
in Government taxes and local rates, besides giving an impetus to the
manufacturing prosperity of the place, which has continued down to the
present day. The correct principles upon which the mining operations at
Snibston were conducted offered a salutary example to the neighbouring
colliery owners. The numerous improvements there introduced were freely
exhibited to all, and they were afterwards reproduced in many forms all
over the Midland Counties, greatly to the advantage of the mining
interest.
Nor was Mr. Stephenson less attentive to the comfort and well-being of
those immediately dependent upon him--the workpeople of the Snibston
colliery and their families. Unlike many of those large employers who
have "sprung from the ranks," he was one of the kindest and most
indulgent of masters. He would have a fair day's work for a fair day's
wages; but he never forgot that the employer had his duties as well as
his rights. First of all, he attended to the proper home accommodation
of his workpeople. He erected a village of comfortable cottages, each
provided with a snug little garden. He was also instrumental in erecting
a church adjacent to the works, as well as Church schools for the
education of the colliers' children; and with that broad catholicity of
sentiment which distinguished him, he further provided a chapel and a
school-house for the use of the Dissenting portion of the colliers and
their families--an example of benevolent liberality which was not without
a salutary influence upon the neighbouring employers.
[Picture: Stephenson's House at Alton Grange]
[Picture: Robert Stephenson]