The evolution of the steam locomotive (1803 to 1898)

We have now to deal with one of the most important improvements in the locomotive—viz., that introduced by Mr. Edward Bury, of the Clarence Foundry, Liverpool, in the design of his celebrated “Liverpool,” (Fig. 17). Of late years many extraordinary statements concerning various types and designs of locomotives have been made, and the “romancing” relative to the original “Liverpool” is perhaps the most conspicuous, whilst at the same time its utter incorrectness is easily proved.

One of these statements is that “the first engine built by Bury at Clarence Foundry was an outside cylinder engine, the ‘Dreadnought,’ which was completed March 30th, 1830, but proved a failure. However, he lost no time, but, with the assistance of his foreman, Mr. Kennedy, got out working drawings for a new engine, to be named the ‘Liverpool.’ This engine, No. 2 in the locomotive order book, and class A in the description book, was commenced early in January, 1831; it was completed in March of that year, and in May, 1831, it was put to work on the Petersburg Railroad of America. It had four coupled wheels of 4ft. 6in. diameter.”

Now, as to the facts, Bury’s books were sold by auction by his creditors on August 15th and 16th, 1851; and, even if the books are now in existence (which is extremely unlikely), it is obviously impossible for them to contain the particulars quoted above, for the very simple and conclusive reason that the facts relative to the original “Liverpool” are quite different to the statement just quoted.

There are three improvements with which Bury is justly credited in the locomotive now under review—viz., the adoption of (1) horizontal inside cylinders below the smoke-box, (2) cranked driving axle, and (3) coupled driving wheels of the (then) great diameter of six feet.

In describing this historical “Liverpool” locomotive we cannot do better than quote Bury, the maker and designer of it, and Kennedy, his foreman, who constructed it. The former, at a meeting of the Institute of Civil Engineers, held on March 17th, 1840, read a paper on the locomotive, and, speaking of the inside cylinder engine, said: “This form of engine Was adopted by the author as early as 1829, when he constructed the ‘Liverpool,’ which was the original model engine, with horizontal cylinders and cranked axles. It was set to work on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in July, 1830.”

About 1843 there was considerable discussion amongst engine builders and locomotive engineers as to the relative safety of inside and outside cylinder, engines, and also regarding the superiority of the four-wheel or six-wheel locomotive. Bury and Co. thereupon issued a circular giving a history of the locomotive practice of their firm, and the various advantages claimed for their locomotive designs.

From this circular we extract the following remarks, as bearing upon the point now under discussion:—“It was the good fortune Of the conductor of this foundry to originate the construction of four-wheel engines, with inside framing, crank axles, and cylinders placed in the smoke-box.... The first engine on this principle was manufactured in this foundry in 1829, prior to the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.” Such are Mr. Bury’s statements concerning the original “Liverpool.”

We will now see what his partner, Mr. James Kennedy, the then President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, had to say regarding the “Liverpool.”

At a meeting of the Institute of Civil Engineers, held on November 11th, 1856, a communication was read from Mr. Kennedy, in which he stated that “the late George Stephenson had told both Bury and Kennedy, after having seen the ‘Liverpool’ engine on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, that his son, the present Robert Stephenson, had taken a fancy to the plan of the ‘Liverpool,’ and intended to make immediately a small engine on the same principle.” This he afterwards did, Stephenson’s “Planet” being the said engine “on the same principle.” Kennedy went on to state that “the letter-book of the firm (Bury and Co.) for the year 1830 contained the whole of the correspondence on the subject between the Directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and Bury.”

The reader can readily judge as to which statement is likely to be correct—those of such well-known men as Bury and Kennedy, which are concise, straightforward statements of known and accepted facts, or the recently published remarks concerning the “books, etc.”

Fortunately, students of locomotive history are not even obliged to decide either one way or the other on the statements pro and con already quoted concerning the original “Liverpool,” but are able to gain independent and conclusive evidence on this important point in locomotive history. For the purpose of finally clearing up the point, the writer communicated with the Secretary of the London and North Western Railway, asking him to examine the Directors’ Minute Books of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway for the year 1830, to see if these authentic documents contained any reference to Bury’s “Liverpool.” Mr. Houghton most generously had the search we required made, and the result was as might have been expected. But let the letter tell its own tale.

The above letter conclusively settles the points in dispute—viz., that the “Liverpool” was tried on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830, and that the diameter of the wheels was 6ft.

We have thus pricked the specious bubble that stated the “Liverpool” was duly commenced to be built in 1831, and that the diameter of the wheels was but 4ft. 6in.!

Readers may wonder why such obviously inaccurate statements should be published. One can only conjecture. Many lists of early locomotives have during the past few years been published. These should, however, be accepted with the very greatest caution. The following table of dimensions of Bury’s early engines appeared as long ago as September 18th, 1857, in the Engineer. As this was nearly forty years before “locomotive lists” had any marketable value, there can be no reason to call in question its accuracy:—

At the present time there exists a market for early, locomotive details; as with other marketable commodities, given a demand, a supply (of some kind) will be forthcoming.

We have a copy of the report prepared by the arbitrators, appointed by the Directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, to inquire into the question of the round or square fire-box, as mentioned in Mr. Houghton’s letter. The report was made by John Farey and Joshua Field, two celebrated engineers of that period, and was in favour of the square fire-box.

It will now be of interest to give a description of Bury’s original “Liverpool,” which was designed and her construction commenced in 1829. She contained many unusual features. Instead of a tubular boiler a number of convoluted flues were used. The fire was urged by bellows fixed under the tender; the driver stood at one end of the engine in front of the smoke-box, and the fireman at the other end, behind the fire-box; the cylinders were horizontal, placed inside the frames beneath the smoke-box; their diameter was 12in., the stroke being 18in.; the four wheels were 6ft. in diameter, and were coupled, and the driving axle was, of course, cranked.

The “Liverpool,” in this her original state, was used as a ballast engine in the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, but not being very successful, was withdrawn., After some alterations, she was again put to work on July 22nd, 1830. Then the crank axle appears to have broken, and she was again removed for repairs, and again put to work on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway on October 26th, 1830. After the report previously mentioned, the Directors refused to purchase the “Liverpool,” and Bury removed her to the Bolton and Kenyon Railway. Here she attained a speed of 58 miles an hour with twelve loaded wagons. On this line one of her wheels broke, and the driver was killed. As a result of this accident, she was then rebuilt and sold to Hargreaves, the contractor, for locomotive power on the Bolton and Kenyon Railway, and continued to work on that line for some years.

The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway was opened on May 3rd, 1830, and was the first locomotive line in the South of England. The original engine, the “Invicta” (Fig. 18), is still preserved by the South Eastern Railway at Ashford, but it is a mere chance that this engine did not disappear nearly sixty years ago. The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway Company, after a short time, let the working of the line to contractors, and they preferred to work it by horse-power, and we find that in October, 1839, the contractors were advertising the “Invicta” for sale, describing her as of “12 horse-power, 18in. stroke, cylinders 24in. long, 9½pin. diameter, wheels 4ft. in diameter.” Fortunately for students of early locomotives, there was no demand for the engine anywhere in the neighbourhood of Whitstable, there then being no other locomotive line nearer than Greenwich, on which she could have been used; so no buyer was forthcoming, and the “Invicta” was thereupon laid up. The dimensions of the “Invicta,” as supplied to us by Mr. J. Stirling, are as follows: Cylinders, 10½in. diameter, fixed in inclined position over leading wheels, and working the trailing wheels; stroke, 18in.; four-coupled wheels, 4ft. diameter; wheel base, 5ft.; boiler, 10ft. 5in. long, 3ft. 4in. diameter, containing a single flue 20in. diameter; distance from top of boiler to rails, 6ft.; from top of chimney to rails, 11ft. 1in.; chimney, 15in. diameter; total length over all, 13ft. 6in. At the bottom of the chimney is a kind of smoke-box, measuring about 2ft. 4in. high, 1ft. 8in. long, and 2ft. 4in. wide. The South Eastern Railway exhibited the “Invicta,” at the jubilee of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1875, and at the Newcastle Stephenson Centenary in 1881. The “Invicta,” when originally built, is said to have had a tubular boiler.

The Directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1829 ordered of Stephenson and Co. seven engines of somewhat similar design to the “Rocket.” The Directors made their first trip by railway from Liverpool to Manchester and back on Monday, June 14th, 1830. The train was drawn by the “Arrow,” and consisted of two carriages and seven wagons; the total weight, including the engine, was 39 tons, the journey to Manchester being made in two hours one minute, whilst the return trip to Liverpool only took one and a half hours, a speed of 27 miles being attained for some distance.

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was formally opened on September 15th, 1830, when the “Northumbrian” (Fig. 19), driven by George Stephenson, hauled the train consisting of the Duke of Wellington’s carriage, the band, etc., on one line, whilst the “Phœnix,” “North Star,” “Rocket,” “Dart,” “Comet,” “Arrow,” and “Meteor,” each hauled a train upon the other line. Starting from Liverpool, the eight trains proceeded towards Manchester. At Parkside Mr. Huskisson was run over by the “Rocket,” and he was placed on the “Northumbrian” and conveyed to Eccles in 25 minutes, or at the rate of 36 miles an hour.

The Duke of Wellington’s carriage was now left without an engine, and a curious sight was witnessed; a long chain was obtained, and the trains which had been up to this point hauled by the “Phœnix” and “North Star,” consisting of ten carriages, were joined together. The chain was then fixed to the Duke of Wellington’s train on the other line, and so the rest of the journey was performed by the two engines and ten carriages on one line hauling another train upon a parallel set of rails. It may be of interest to observe that the carriage built for the Duke of Wellington was provided with eight wheels, so it will be noticed that eight-wheeled passenger stock is not at all a modern introduction, but, on the contrary, has been in use ever since the opening of the first railway built for the conveyance of passengers. The vehicle in question was 32ft. long and 8ft. wide.

The two engines ordered by the Directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway of Braithwaite and Ericsson after the style of the “Novelty,” were named “William the Fourth,” (by special permission of that monarch) and “Queen Adelaide.” They were delivered to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway immediately the railway was opened, and on September 22nd, 1830, the “William the Fourth” ran off the rails on the Sankey Viaduct. A very considerable number of trials were made with these locomotives on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway; but, as was the case with Bury’s “Liverpool,” Stephenson strongly objected to any other maker’s engines being used on the line, and he was, therefore, always ready to find out some fault in the engines not of his construction tendered to the company. Braithwaite and Ericsson claimed four great advantages for their class of engines—viz., (1) the total absence of all smoke; (2) the dispensing with a chimney; (3) a saving of 120 per cent. in the cost of the fuel, and of 30 per cent. in the space required to store it; (4) a saving of 400 per cent. in the space occupied by the boilers.

Several improvements were introduced into the “William the Fourth,” and “Queen Adelaide,” so that they differed somewhat from the “Novelty.” They were provided with four-wheeled tenders, which were placed in front of the engines. The four wheels of the engines were 5ft. in diameter, the wheel base being 6ft. 9in. The horizontal portion of the boiler was 8ft. long, the vertical portion, containing the fire, etc., being 6ft. 6in. high and 4ft. diameter. The cylinders were vertical, but worked downwards; they were located one on each side of the vertical portion of the boiler, and a little to the rear of the leading wheels, to which the motion was conveyed by means of bell-cranks and connecting-rods—the latter joined the axle within the wheels, so that the driving axle was cranked.

The next engine that requires our attention is the celebrated “Globe” (Fig. 20), designed for the Stockton and Darlington Railway by Timothy Hackworth, and built by R. Stephenson and Co. The “Globe” was built for passenger traffic; she was provided with a steam dome, and was the first locomotive built with this advantageous appendage for obtaining dry steam. The valve motion was reversible by a single lever. The heating surface was provided for by means of a single fire-tube, whilst behind the fire-bridge, and extending to the chimney, were seven small radiating tubes crossing the main flue.

This idea of Hackworth’s was afterwards introduced by Galloway in his stationary engine boilers, and patented by him. The engine “Globe” had a cranked axle and inside cylinders.

Hackworth explained the construction of the “Globe” to the Directors of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and he was instructed to go to Newcastle and arrange for the building of the “Globe” by Stephenson and Co. He saw the officials at the Forth Street Works on March 3rd, 1830, and after the examination of the plans there, it is stated that one of the officials objected to the crank axle, saying “it would certainly involve a loss of power, as the efficient length of lever could only be calculated from the inside of the journal to the axle’s centre.” It is well known that Geo. Stephenson had previously seen Bury’s “Liverpool,” and said of it, “My son has taken a fancy to the plan of the ‘Liverpool’ engine, and intends to make immediately a small engine on the same principle.” Hackworth’s reply to the objection to the crank axle was “that he held Stephenson responsible only for supplying good workmanship, and not for any failure of the design, should such occur.”

On March 3rd, 1830, Hackworth, in company with Harris Dickinson, one of R. Stephenson and Co.’s foremen, drove over to Bedlington Iron Works to order the boiler plates required for the construction of the “Globe.”

Hackworth remained at Newcastle till March 6th, and being satisfied that the construction of the “Globe” would be immediately proceeded with, he returned to Darlington, having obtained a promise of quick delivery. The boiler plates were delivered at the Forth Street Works, April 14th, 1830.

The completion of the engine was, however, delayed until after R. Stephenson and Co. had delivered the “Planet,” inside cylinder locomotive, to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The “Globe” opened the Stockton and Middlesbrough Branch of the Stockton and Darlington Railway on December 27th, 1830. Her speed frequently exceed 50 miles an hour with passenger trains.

In consequence of a deficiency of water, she blew up in 1839. The engine was provided with a copper globe for the purpose of obtaining dry steam—hence her name “Globe.” She had four wheels, each of 5ft. diameter.

Stephenson soon put into practice the borrowed idea of inside cylinder locomotives, to his own advantage, and on October 4th, 1830, he delivered the first engine of his construction containing inside cylinders, placed in the smoke-box, as suggested to R. Stephenson by Trevithick. This locomotive was named the “Planet,” and was constructed for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The cylinders were 11in. diameter, stroke 16in. The boiler was 6ft. 6in. long, 3ft. diameter, and contained 129 tubes. She weighed eight tons; the driving wheels were 5ft. diameter, and were placed just in front of the fire-box. The leading wheels were 3ft. diameter, and projected beyond the front of the smoke-box. The frames were outside the wheels, and were of oak lined with iron plates. As the “Planet” embodied several improvements not before used in the engines constructed by Stephenson for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, it is natural that the locomotive should be able to perform better service than the earlier ones. On November 23rd, 1830, she conveyed a train from Manchester to Liverpool in one hour, including a stop of two minutes for water.

On December 4th, 1830, the “Planet” (Fig. 21) hauled a mixed train, weighing 76 tons without the engine and convoy (tender) from Liverpool to Manchester in two hours thirty-nine minutes’ running time.

Stephenson continued to supply various locomotives to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with different minor improvements; thus the “Mercury,” built in December, 1830, had the outside frame placed above the driving axle, an improvement on the “Planet,” which had the frames below the driving axle. But all these early engines of Stephenson were of a very unsatisfactory character. Pambour, writing in 1834, says of them: “When an engine requires any repair, unless it be for some trifling accident, it is taken to pieces and a new one is constructed, which receives the same name as the first, and in the construction of which are made to serve all such parts of the old engine as are still capable of being used with advantage. The consequence of this is that a reconstructed or repaired engine is literally a new one. The repairs amount thus to considerable sums, but they include also the renewal of the engines.”

The directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway soon found the method of working their heavy trains with four or five locomotives was far from economical, and Stephenson was required to supply more powerful engines for the merchandise traffic. He, therefore, built the “Samson” and “Goliath.” These were only four-wheel engines, but all the wheels were made of one size and coupled together. The former was delivered in January, 1831, and on February 25th she conveyed a train weighing 164 tons (without reckoning the weight of engine or tender) from Liverpool to Manchester in two and a half hours. The dimensions of the engines were: Cylinders 14in. diameter, stroke 16in., wheels 4ft. 6in. diameter, heating surface 457.10 sq. ft.

In 1831, the Directors of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway decided to work their line by locomotives, and instructed Mr. Dodd, their engineer, to design engines for the purpose. He, however, merely adopted the plan used in the construction of the “Locomotion” (Stockton and Darlington Railway), with the cylinders placed partly within the boiler over the wheels, working by means of cross-heads and connecting-rods. He also adopted the tubular boiler, which was, of course, wanting in the “Locomotion.” The engines were constructed by Murdoch and Aitken, of Glasgow, and were the first locomotives built in that city. The first was put to work on May 10th, 1831, and the second on September 10th, 1831. The boilers of these two locomotives were lagged with wood, and metallic packing was for the first time employed in connection with the pistons. The cylinders were 10½in. diameter, stroke 24in., steam pressure 50lb. The locomotives were supported on four coupled wheels, the coupling-rods having ball-and-socket joints at each end. A speed of six miles an hour was attained with Dodd’s engines, and, although of rough design, they were much more economical in fuel and repairs than the engines supplied about the same time by Stephenson to the neighbouring Glasgow and Garnkirk Railway. These latter two engines were named the “St. Rollox” and “George Stephenson.” Their dimensions were as follows:—

The gauge of this line was only 4ft. 6in. The “St. Rollox” cost the G. and G. Railway about £750; that company sold it to the Paisley and Renfrew Railway for £350, and the latter, in December, 1848, when the gauge of their line was altered, disposed of the locomotive by auction for £13. It had wooden wheels. At the same auction the other two locomotives of the Paisley and Renfrew Railway were also sold, and realised only 20 guineas each, although about ten years previously the Paisley and Renfrew Railway had paid Murdoch, Aitken, and Co. £1,100 for each of them. They were six-wheel tank engines. The Scotch engines we have just been describing, all burnt coal in place of coke, and as they caused a good deal of smoke they were much objected to on that account.

We have previously stated that upon the advice of two engineers the Directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway had refrained from purchasing more locomotives from E. Bury, but other people soon saw the good points of his engines, and in 1832 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway considered it policy to purchase another locomotive from the Clarence Foundry. This engine was called the “Liver.” She had cylinders 11in. diameter, 16in. stroke, and driving wheels 5ft. diameter. The “Liver” worked very successfully, and in 1836 her fire-box was altered to burn coal, but this experiment turned out somewhat of a failure.

Towards the end of 1831, and during 1832, the increasing traffic on the Stockton and Darlington Railway made a considerable increase in the number of locomotives necessary. Hackworth designed two new classes of engines to work the trains. One type was known as the “Majestic” class, and six engines of this description were soon at work.

The “Majestic” locomotives had each six-coupled wheels. The heating surface was obtained from a tube 9ft. long, 2ft. 6in. diameter, one end of which communicated with the fire-grate; the other was divided from the boiler by a partition-plate, inserted in which were 104 copper tubes 4ft. long, and reaching to the smoke-box. It should be observed that the boiler was 13ft. long. The cylinders were fixed in a vertical position in front of the smoke-box, the connecting-rods working on a straight shaft or axle parallel with the wheel axles: this driving shaft was coupled by outside rods to the six wheels. The slide-valves had “lap,” and were worked by two eccentrics, which also worked the force pumps. The engine was reversed by means of a single lever. This class of engines included:—

• “Majestic,” built by Hackworth.
• “Coronation,” built by Hawthorn.
• “William the Fourth,” built by Hackworth.
• “Northumbrian,” built by Hackworth.
• “Director,” built by Stephenson.
• “Lord Brougham,” built by Hackworth.

All of them were built from Hackworth’s designs, the leading dimensions being: Cylinders, 14½in. diameter, stroke, 16in.; boiler, 13ft. long, 3ft. 10in. diameter; weight of engine—empty, 10¼ tons; full, 11¾ tons. The other class of engines designed by Hackworth at this time included:—

• “Darlington,” built by Hawthorn.
• “Shildon,” built by Hackworth.
• “Earl Grey,” built by Hawthorn.
• “Lord Durham,” built by Stephenson.
• “Adelaide,” built by Stephenson.
• “Wilberforce,” built by Hawthorn.

“Wilberforce,” an illustration of which is given (Fig. 22), was built by Hawthorn, of Newcastle, and commenced to work in 1832; it had six coupled wheels 4ft. in diameter; the cylinders were 14¾in., with 16in. stroke. Like many of the locomotives of that period, the “Wilberforce,” as will be observed, had two tenders, one at each end of the engine. On the tender at the front end, which only carried coals (the fire-door being at the chimney end of the engines), the fireman stood; whilst the other tender, at the foot-plate end, carried water in a barrel, and also the tool boxes. The engine wheels were made of two separate castings or rings, and the axles were all straight, the crank-shaft being carried in separate bearings beneath the foot-plate. There were no tail lamps in those early days; to make up for this deficiency a cresset containing burning coal was used. In some cases, when it was necessary to indicate the destination of the engine, or the section to which it belonged, as many as three of these cressets of glowing coals were employed on the same locomotive.

On certain favourable gradients the “Wilberforce” was capable of taking 36 loaded chaldron wagons, equal to about 171 tons, and its coal consumption is given as 68lb. per mile. During the year ending June, 1839, this engine ran 16,688 miles, conveyed 635,522 tons over one mile, and cost £318 10s. 8d., or 4.5d. per mile run, for repairs. The wages of the driver and fireman during the same period amounted to £353 12s. 8d.

The engines of this class, in their time, performed a greater amount of work than any others then existing. As late as 1846 one of the principal officials of the Stockton and Darlington Railway said of them: “Take them, weight for weight, they surpass any engine on the line.”

The cylinders were 14½in. diameter, 16in. stroke; the valve gearing, wheels, etc., were similar to the “Majestic” class, but the cylinders were fixed on a framing extending 6ft. beyond the boiler over the driving shaft, which was coupled to the six wheels, each of 4ft. diameter.

The heating surface of the engines was on a different system, a “return multitubular fire-tube” being employed. This comprised a principal tube 8ft. long and 28in. diameter at the fire-grate end, and 24in. at the other. Here was fixed a D-shaped box; from this, 89 copper tubes conveyed the heated air back through the boiler to the semi-circular box fixed at the fire-grate end; the chimney came out of this smoke-box extension. These flues proved most economical, many lasting as long as six years, and, when necessary, duplicate ones could be fixed, and the engine again at work in three days. The boiler was 10ft. long and 4ft. 4in. diameter, weight of engine 10¼ tons empty, 11¾ tons loaded.

The “Magnet,” built by Hackworth, at Shildon, in 1832, was an improvement on the above. The cylinders were 15in. diameter, 16in. stroke. The fire-tube at the furnace end was 2ft. diameter, and was divided in the middle by a 4in. fire-brick partition. The number of return tubes was 110. These were 7ft. 6in. long. Hackworth was at this time hauling all the trains on the Stockton and Darlington Railway by contract, at the rate of 2-5d. per ton of goods per mile; afterwards reduced to a still lower price. He paid the Stockton and Darlington Railway interest at 5 per cent. on the cost of locomotives employed on the line, which were the property of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company, but leased to him.

An engine named “Caledonian” (Fig. 23) was supplied to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1832, by Galloway, Borman and Co. She had inside frames, four coupled wheels 5ft. diameter, and a domed fire-box. The curious point about the locomotive was the location of the cylinders, which were placed on the frame in front of the smoke-box, and were fixed vertically, with the piston-rods working through the upper cover, connecting-rods working downwards to the leading wheels, the axle of which was below the frames, in front of the smoke-box.

As might be expected, the “Caledonian” was far from being an easy-running locomotive, and, after several times running off the rails, she was rebuilt with inside cylinders and a crank axle.