Railway Promotion
In 1809, Pease became involved (like his grandfather before him) in longstanding aspirations to improve navigability on the lower Tees, so that County Durham collieries could compete more effectively with those of Tyneside to supply coal to London. This was abandoned in favour of a railway. Meanwhile Pease introduced into the scheme the steam engine maker George Stephenson, and an initial act of Parliament for a horse-drawn railway was immediately superseded by one for a steam-hauled line. Also prominent was a cousin of his, the Darlington banker Jonathan Backhouse, and in promoting steam, Nicholas Wood, the engineer and manager of Killingworth Colliery.
Pease, described at the time as "a man of weight, of prudence, of keen commercial instincts" was charged with showing that steam would be a sound investment, and his young son Joseph drew up the company prospectus. The scheme was approved by Parliament in 1821. Stephenson was put in charge of the project and the line opened on 27 September 1825.
The company initially provided only the track, which was hired out to whoever wished to run a train, hauled either by horses or by steam. The transition to standard railway management was a gradual one, spurred on by frequent disputes between drivers about right of way and by the dangers of the higher speeds of steam locomotives.
Read more about this topic: Edward Pease (railway Pioneer)
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