A Stephenson “bogie” engine for America—The genesis of a
world-famous locomotive film—Its initial effort in
locomotive construction, the “Experiment”—Her cylinder
valves—Two early Scotch locomotives—Stephenson favours
6-wheel engines, and constructs the “Patentee”—Forrester’s
“Swiftsure”—Opening of the Newcastle and Carlisle Rwy.—The
“Comet”— R. Stephenson’s early “ultimatum,” the “Harvey
Combe” —Hackworth to the front with a locomotive novelty—
The first locomotive in Russia—The “Goliath”—The “Tyne” and
her steam organ—Other early Newcastle and Carlisle Rwy.
engines—An engine-driver’s reminiscences —No eight hours
day then—The “Michael Longridge”— Opening of the Grand
Junction Rwy.—Its first locomotives.
R. Stephenson and Co., in 1833, constructed a locomotive for the
Saratoga and Schenectady Rail Road of America, which deserves mention
from the fact that it had a leading bogie, rendered necessary because
of the sharp curves on the Saratoga and Schenectady Rail Road. R.
Stephenson named this locomotive the “Bogie,” because the low wagons
used on the quarries at Newcastle were locally called “bogies,” and
it was from these vehicles that he developed the idea of providing a
small truck to carry the leading end of the locomotive in question.
Ever since 1833 the swivelling truck used for supporting locomotives
and other railway rolling stock has, in England, been designated the
“bogie.”
Richard Roberts, of the firm of Sharp, Roberts and Co. (the
predecessors of Sharp, Stewart and Co., Limited), in the year 1833,
turned his attention to locomotive construction. His initial effort was
of a somewhat novel kind. Four locomotives of his first design were
constructed, one—“Experiment”—for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
and the others for the Dublin and Kingstown Railway. The cylinders,
which were 11in. diameter, were placed in a vertical position on the
frames, just at the point were the boiler entered the smoke-box. By
means of cross-heads and side-links the motion was conveyed to a
bell-crank, and so transmitted by a connecting-rod to the driving
wheels. There was, of course, a similar arrangement of cylinder,
crank, etc., on both sides of the engine. The stroke was 16in. The
driving wheels, 5ft. in diameter, were placed in front of the fire-box,
and had inside bearings; the leading wheels were located below the
vertical cylinders, and had outside bearings. The pump was placed in
a horizontal position above the frame over the driving wheels, and was
worked by a rod actuated by the vertical member of the bell-crank.
The “Experiment” (Fig. 24) was unsuccessful, and was rebuilt, when a
third pair of wheels was added, and the position of the cylinders,
bell-crank, etc., altered. The valves were, also of a novel kind,
patented by Mr. Roberts in 1832. Colburn thus describes them: “The
valve, of wrought-iron, was formed of two concentric tubes or pipes,
the larger pipe having holes perforated to admit steam from the
steam-pipe into the annular space. This annular space was closed
steam-tight at each end of the valve, and steam could only escape
from it alternately to each end of the cylinder through the slots.
The exhaust steam passed from one end of the cylinder directly into
the waste pipe, and from the other end it traversed the interior of
the pipe of the cylindrical valve. These valves did not work well, as
they did not expand equally with their cast-iron casings when heated
by steam. For this reason the cylinder valves were soon abandoned. It
should be mentioned that, in Mr. Roberts’ first engines, the valve for
each cylinder was worked with a motion derived from the opposite side
of the engine. No eccentrics were employed, the requisite motion being
taken from a pin near the fulcrum of each bell-crank, and transmitted
thence through suitable gearing to the valve attached to the cylinder
on the opposite side of the engine.”
[Illustration: FIG. 24.—ROBERTS’S “EXPERIMENT,” WITH VERTICAL
CYLINDERS, BELL-CRANK, CONNECTING-ROD, AND CYLINDER VALVES]
The engines used on the Dundee and Newtyle Railway, constructed in
1833, partook somewhat of the character of Roberts’s “Experiment,”
inasmuch that right-angled cranks and vertical cylinders were
employed, the diameter of the latter being 11in., and stroke 18in.
These engines were named “Earl of Airlie” and “Lord Wharncliffe,” and
were constructed by J. and C. Carmichael, of Dundee. Both these engines
were delivered at the end of September, 1833. The “single” driving
wheels were placed in the leading position, the axle being just behind
the smoke-box. The cylinders were placed on the side frames, about
midway between the two ends.
The piston-rods worked upwards, and the motion was conveyed by means
of rods from the piston cross-heads. These connecting-rods passed down
outside the pistons, and were connected to one end of the bell-cranks,
which were fixed beyond the cylinders, with the pivots over the centre
of the second pair of wheels. From the lower ends of the bell-cranks
the driving-rods were pivoted, the other ends being connected to the
outside cranks of the driving wheels. The fire-box end of the engines
was supported on a four-wheel truck or bogie. These engines weighed 9½
tons each, and cost £700 each. An ordinary four-wheel wagon, fitted
with a water-butt, was used for a tender.
An engine of similar design was ordered from Stirling and Co., of the
East Foundry, Dundee, and delivered on March 3rd, 1834.
Mr. A. Sturrock, the first manager of Swindon Works, and afterwards
locomotive superintendent of the Great Northern Railway, helped to
construct this engine, which was named “Trotter.” Mr. Sturrock was at
the time an apprentice at the East Foundry.
The gauge of the Dundee and Newtyle Railway was only 4ft. 6in., but
when the line was taken over by the Dundee and Perth Railway the gauge
was altered to the normal gauge of Great Britain. The original engine,
“Earl of Airlie,” after some alteration, of course, could not run on
the railway, but for some years after the change the “Earl of Airlie”
was employed as a stationary pumping engine.
Stephenson’s four-wheel passenger engines with a short wheel base were
found to be very unsteady at the very moderate speeds then attained,
and he, therefore, added a pair of trailing wheels, thus constructing
a six-wheel “single” passenger engine. Stephenson considered that
the moderate wheel base of these small engines with six wheels
would, on the easy curves of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
offer considerable resistance, so he took out a patent, in which he
provided that the middle or driving pair of wheels should be without
flanges (or flanchès, as they were then called). He claimed that by
this modification the six-wheel passenger engine would pass round
curves with much less strain and greater safety. The first engine so
constructed by Stephenson he designated the “Patentee,” and she was
delivered to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in January, 1834. She
had outside frames, inside cylinders, 18in. stroke, 12in. diameter; the
driving wheels were 5ft. diameter.
George Forrester and Co., Vauxhall Foundry, Liverpool, in 1834
constructed a six-wheel engine named “Swiftsure.” This locomotive
possessed many novel features. It had outside horizontal cylinders;
the frames were also outside, thus making the cylinders a considerable
distance apart. The connecting-rods were keyed on cranks, at some
distance outside the frames, whilst the fact that the driving wheels
were not counterbalanced caused the engines of this class to be most
unsteady at even moderate speeds, and they were soon known by the
sobriquet of “Boxers.” Colburn says: “A few pounds of iron properly
disposed in the rims of the driving wheels would have redeemed the
reputation of these engines.” The arrangement of cylinders and frames
allowed the leading wheels to be placed well forward, the total length
of the frames of the “Swiftsure” being 17ft. The driving wheels were
5ft. diameter, and the cylinders 11in.; the stroke was 18in.
[Illustration: FIG. 25.—HAWTHORN’S “COMET,” THE FIRST ENGINE OF THE
NEWCASTLE AND CARLISLE RAILWAY, 1835]
In the “Boxer” Forrester employed his patent valve gear, with vertical
gab ends and four eccentrics.
A portion of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway was opened March 9th,
1835, and R. and W. Hawthorn constructed the first engines for that
railway. No. 1 was the “Comet,” (Fig. 25), a four-wheel (coupled)
locomotive; the cylinders (12in. diameter, 16in. stroke) were placed
below the smoke-box, the connecting-rods passing under the leading
axle. The wheels were 4ft. diameter. Hawthorn’s valve gear was used in
the engines of this class, which was actuated by four fixed eccentrics.
The “Comet” continued to work on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway for
a number of years, and was afterwards used as a stationary engine for
driving the steam saws at the Forth Bank Engine Works, Newcastle. She
was so engaged up to and subsequently to 1863.
About 1836 short-stroke locomotives came into favour, and Tayleur
and Co. built ten for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Although
the cylinders were 14in. diameter, the stroke was only 12in. We need
scarcely add the experiment was not successful, although some of the
original broad-gauge engines were built with short strokes. These will,
however, be dealt with fully later on.
In 1836 R. Stephenson and Co. constructed the “Harvey Combe”
locomotive. She was a ballast engine, and was engaged in the
construction of the London and Birmingham Railway. R. Stephenson had
a minute description of this engine written by W. P. Marshall, and
the work in question is stated to be “the most perspicuous and the
illustrations of the most elaborate kind of any work describing a
locomotive.”
The fact that at once strikes the intelligent reader as peculiar is
that, although the “Harvey Combe” was designed “for conveying the
earth excavated in the construction of a line of railway,” as Marshall
“perspicuously” puts it (but which we should shortly describe as a
“ballast” engine), she is a “single” engine! and, therefore, is not
much like a modern six-coupled ballast engine. She cost £1,400, and was
of 50 horse-power.
The principal dimensions of the “Harvey Combe” were: Cylinders, 12in.
by 18in.; driving wheels, 5ft., and leading and trailing 3ft. 6in.
diameter; 102 tubes, 1⅝in. internal diameter; total heating surface,
480ft.; weight, empty, 10 tons; with fuel and water, 11 tons 18 cwt.
No flanges were provided to the driving wheels. Although the “Harvey
Combe” was built for, and had rough usage as, a ballast engine, yet,
when at the end of 1837 Nicholas Wood was making experiments for
the purposes of his report to the Great Western Railway as to the
broad-gauge, the “Harvey Combe” was the principal narrow-gauge engine
with which he experimented. With a gross load (including engine,
etc.) of 81 tons, she attained a speed of 25 to 53 miles an hour, and
consumed 0.47lb. of coke per ton per mile. With a gross load of 50 tons
the speed reached was only 32.88 miles an hour, with the above coal
consumption.
In 1836, Hackworth built a locomotive of novel construction—viz., with
double-acting ram or trunk engines, by means of which piston-rods were
dispensed with, the connecting-rods being pivoted directly on to the
piston and oscillated within the trunk.
This was the first locomotive engine ever seen in Russia. She commenced
work on the Zarskoe-Selo Railway on November 18th, 1836, a religious
service being held and the locomotive consecrated before the first
train was run. Of this engine the Russian Emperor remarked in English,
“It is the finest I ever saw.” An old officer of the Stockton and
Darlington Railway, informs the writer that a locomotive on the
double-acting trunk principle was also built by Hackworth for that
line, and so far as his memory serves him, he believes it was the
“Arrow” passenger engine. The “Arrow” had leading and trailing wheels
3ft. 6in. diameter; driving wheels, 5ft. 6in. diameter; 135 tubes in
the boiler of 1¾in. diameter; cylinders, 20in. in diameter, and with a
stroke of only 9in.!
We have already mentioned the first engine (the “Comet”) supplied to
the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, but several of the other early
locomotives used on that line were powerful ones, and their design
in advance of the generality of locomotives then in use. Thus, the
“Goliath,” one of the first engines supplied to the line by Hawthorn,
in March, 1837, hauled a train consisting of 63 wagons of coal,
weighing 267 tons, 12 miles in less than 40 minutes.
The “Goliath” had six-coupled wheels 4ft. diameter, cylinders 14in.
diameter, 18in. stroke. Total heating surface 550.91 sq. ft. Weight,
empty, 11¾ tons; in working order, 13 tons. The “Atlas,” built by R.
Stephenson and Co. in 1836, drew a train of 100 wagons, loaded with
coal, coke, and lime, and weighing 450 tons, 10¾ miles in 45 minutes,
but this was on a falling gradient, varying from 1 in 215 to 1 in 106.
This locomotive was also six-coupled, the wheels being 4ft. diameter;
cylinders, 14in. by 18in. stroke; heating surface, 553.77 sq. ft.,
weighing 10 tons 6 cwt. empty, and 11 tons 6¾ cwt. in working trim.
Another small locomotive on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, named
“Tyne,” built by Hawthorn, is worthy of notice, for the reason that
the first steam organ was fitted to the engine. This was the invention
of the Rev. James Birket, of Ovingham. It was fixed on the top of the
fire-box, and was thus described: “The organ consists of eight pipes,
tuned to compass an octave, but without any intervening tones or
semi-tones. This is the first attempt to adapt a musical instrument to
the steam engine capable of producing a tune, and though not so perfect
as to admit of all the pleasing variety and combination of sound
capable of being produced by the instrument to which we have compared
it, there is no doubt but very considerable improvements will be made
in this steam musical instrument by the inventor, who is a skilful
musician as well as an ingenious mechanic.”
The “Tyne” had cylinders 13½in. by 16in. stroke, and four wheels, 4ft.
6in. diameter; she weighed only 9½ tons. After working for many years,
a pair of trailing wheels 3ft. 6in. diameter was added, thus making her
a six-wheel engine, with the leading and driving wheels coupled. She
continued to work on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway till the end of
1857, when she was sold, but even at that time the “Tyne” was in good
working order. Three other old locomotives were sold at the time—viz.,
“Eden,” “Meteor,” and “Lightning.”
The “Eden” was built by R. Stephenson and Co. in 1836, and had
four-coupled wheels of 4ft. 6in. diameter, and a third pair 3ft. 6in.
diameter; cylinders, 14in. by 15in. stroke, afterwards increased to
16in. stroke. Weight, empty, 10 tons, 6 cwt.
The “Meteor” was built by Bury and Co., of Liverpool, and had only
four wheels of 4ft. diameter; cylinders, 12in. diameter. The stroke at
first was 15in., but afterwards was made 16in. Steam pressure, 55lb.
She was provided with hand-gear, the slide-valves working into the
front of the steam chest by means of weight bars located between the
front buffer beam and the smoke-box end. The piston connecting-rods,
of course, actuated the rear axle, but the eccentric sheaves were upon
the leading axle, so that if the crank pins upon which the side-rods
worked went a bit loose, the side-rods had to be disconnected, and the
valves worked by the gear handles. This was rather hard work for the
driver and fireman, who, upon such occasions, took it in turns to thus
work the valve gear. This Bury locomotive opened the line from Blaydon
to Newcastle on Sunday, October 31st, 1839. The man who was fireman on
this engine at that time thus relates his experiences:—“The ‘Meteor’
engine was sent to Redheugh Station to work the passenger trains
between that station and Blaydon, also coal trains and other things,
with this tiny engine of about eleven tons all told. We formed the
connection at Blaydon with all trains to and from the west. For this
new arrangement of running I was to be called out of bed by a watchman
close after two o’clock each morning, to gather up my fire-bars, put
them into the box, and get a fire as best I could as usual, and have
steam ready by 5 a.m. to take our first train from Gateshead to Blaydon
at 5.20 a.m. I had also to clean most of the little engine, the driver
doing part. I had to clean up the shed, take all ashes out, coke the
tender, etc. To turn the engine the tender had to be taken off, and
pushed on one side to get past it, and reunited as often as we made a
short trip. There is nothing like it in the divorce court. For this
work my pay was 2s. 8d. per day, commencing at 5 a.m., when my driver
made his appearance, little overtime being allowed, and we did well to
finish by 8.45 p.m. I worked about 18½ hours daily, with one exception,
weekly, and on this particular time we had our boiler to clean out, and
had to fill by hand buckets—this after our train work was finished.
Water being a little scarce in the shed, it was frequently necessary
to haul out of the river Tyne and carry to the shed, and pour into
the boiler by the safety valve or man-hole by the driver, the fireman
having the honour of carrying it from the river quay.
“This work took so much labour and time that our only rest on that
particular night and morning was upon the soft side of a plank while
the steam was rising in the engine boiler, to leave for Blaydon at
5.20 a.m. with our usual first train. Then we were again at work until
8.45 p.m. There was not a guard for our passenger train, so I had the
closing of the carriage doors, etc., to attend to, to fill up my spare
time, and to keep myself awake. We had to load coals during part of
the day from Wylam, etc., to Dunston, so that there was not much fear
of falling asleep. I was coupler and guard for this work. When not
otherwise engaged I had my cleaning to attend to, and tubes to keep
clean daily, so I was really never committed for going to sleep during
working hours. I was at this work over the winter almost the whole of
1839-40, when early one morning I had a fall from the boiler top in
the shed, and came down the wrong end first. I injured one shoulder
very much, which laid me off work one month. I kept at work all the
day after falling, but only one arm was of any use to me, and I was
compelled to give up.
“A bone-setter in North Shields had to do the needful for me, as they
have often had to do for others before and afterwards.”
The “Lightning” was an engine with dimensions similar to those of the
“Eden,” previously described.
Longridge and Co., of Bedlington, supplied the Stanhope and Tyne
Railway in 1837 with a very powerful locomotive named the “Michael
Longridge.” She had six-coupled wheels, 4ft. diameter; cylinders, 14in.
diameter; and a stroke of 18in.
The Grand Junction Railway was opened in July, 1837, and R. Stephenson
and Co. (together with other builders), supplied the original
locomotives. Stephenson’s engines at this time had become a little more
dependable, for we find it chronicled that three of them which had run
uninterruptedly since they were first employed had, between July 8th
and September 30th, 1837, accomplished the following distances—viz.:
the “Wildfire,” 11,865 miles; “Shark,” 10,018 miles; and “Scorpion,”
11,137 miles; and, moreover, they were then still running in perfect
working condition. They were six-wheel locomotives, with leading and
trailing wheels 3ft. 6in. diameter, driving, 5ft. diameter; cylinders,
12½in. by 18in. stroke; weighing in working order 9 tons 12 cwt.
[Illustration: FIG. 26.—“SUNBEAM,” BUILT BY HAWTHORN FOR THE STOCKTON
AND DARLINGTON RAILWAY]
In 1837, No. 43, of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the “Sunbeam”
(Fig. 26) was turned out by Hawthorn. It was a “single” engine, having
driving wheels 5ft. in diameter, and cylinders 12in. in diameter, with
18in. stroke. The “Sunbeam” worked well for 19 years, and in 1863 was
reported as being “still in good working order, but too small for the
present heavy traffic”. The boiler of the ”Sunbeam” was 8ft. long by
3ft. 2in. in diameter, and contained 104 copper tubes. The “Dart,” No.
41, was built by Hackworth in 1840, at Shildon, and was a four-wheeled
engine, the wheels being 4ft. 6in. in diameter. The boiler, containing
122 tubes, was 8ft. 2in. long and 3ft 3in. in diameter. The fire-box
was 4ft. high, 3ft. 10in. long, and 3ft. wide. The boiler pressure was
100lb., and the heating surface of the engine 602 square feet; the
cylinders were 14in. in diameter, and the stroke 16in. The extreme
length of the engine and tender was 35ft. 3in., and the regular speed
attained is said to have been thirty miles an hour.