Middleton Railway
In 1812 the firm supplied John Blenkinsop, manager of Brandling's Middleton Colliery, near Leeds, with the first twin-cylinder steam locomotive (Salamanca) in 1812. This was the first commercially successful steam locomotive. Murray paid Trevithick a royalty for the use of his design but substantially improved upon it, using two cylinders rather than one to give a smoother drive. Because it was thought that the iron wheels would not have sufficient grip on smooth iron rails when pulling a full load, it was decided to have a toothed wheel driven by connecting rods, with the wheel meshing with a toothed rack attached to the track. This was the first rack railway, and had a gauge of 4 ft 1½ ins. Blenkinsop patented the rack drive in 1811, but it was subsequently found that iron wheels and smooth rails could generate enough friction without the need for a rack drive. Salamanca was so successful that Murray made three more models, Prince Regent, Willington and Marquis Wellington. Willington was subsequently sold to Brandling's Kenton and Coxlodge colliery to be used on Tyneside. There it was seen by George Stephenson who modelled his own locomotive Blücher on it, minus the rack drive.
However after two of the locomotives had exploded, killing their drivers and a number of onlookers, Middleton colliery reverted to horse haulage. The remaining locomotive was preserved for many years at Broom Pit but fell victim to a scrap metal drive.
Read more about this topic: Matthew Murray
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