Stockton and Darlington Railway
The proprietors of Wylam Colliery, near Newcastle upon Tyne wanted to abolish horse-drawn trains in favour of steam. In 1804, William Hedley, a manager at the colliery, employed Trevithick to build a steam locomotive. However, it proved too heavy for the wooden track to allow it to be used. William Hedley and Timothy Hackworth (another colliery employee), designed a locomotive in 1813 which became known as Puffing Billy. Puffing Billy featured piston rods extending upwards to pivoting beams, connected in turn by rods to a crankshaft beneath the frames, which in turn drove the gears attached to the wheels. This meant that the wheels were coupled, allowing better traction
A year later George Stephenson, another of Wylam's employees, improved on that design with Blücher, which was the first locomotive to use flanged wheels keeping the locomotive on the track, and had cylinder rods directly connected to the wheels in the manner of Catch me who can.
In 1821 an Act of Parliament was approved for a tramway between Stockton and Darlington. Stephenson's design convinced the backers of the proposed tramway to appoint Stephenson, who had recently built the Hetton colliery railway, as engineer. Traffic on the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was originally intended to be horse-drawn, but Stephenson carried out a fresh survey of the route to allow steam haulage, and the Act was subsequently amended to allow the usage of steam locomotives. The railway was also empowered to carry passengers in addition to coal and general merchandise.
The line was 25 miles (40 km) in length, had 100 passing loops along its single track, and four branch lines to collieries. It opened on 27 September 1825. The first train was hauled by Stephenson's Locomotion No 1 at speeds of 12 to 15 miles per hour (19 to 24 km/h) . Four locomotives named Locomotion were constructed, and were effectively beam engines on wheels with vertical cylinders. They were also amongst the first locomotives to use coupling rods rather than chains to drive its wheels. The railway was initially operated like a public road, and it was a common occurrence for waggoners' trains to meet on the single track, leading to arguments as to who should back up to a passing loop.
Read more about this topic: History Of Rail Transport In Great Britain To 1830
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