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LocomotionNo. 1

Coordinates:54°32′10″N1°33′18″W/ 54.536°N 1.555°W/54.536; -1.555
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54°32′10″N1°33′18″W/ 54.536°N 1.555°W/54.536; -1.555

LocomotionNo. 1
Locomotionat Darlington Railway Centre and Museum
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderRobert Stephenson and Company
Build date1825;199 years ago(1825)
Specifications
Configuration:
Whyte0-4-0
Driverdia.48 in (1.219 m)
Loco weight6.5 long tons (7.3 short tons; 6.6 t)
Fuel typeCoke[1]
Fuel capacity1 t (1 long ton; 1 short ton)
Water cap.240 imp gal or 290 US gal or 1,100 L[2]
Boiler pressure50 psi (0.34 MPa)[3]
Heating surface60 sq ft (5.57 m2)
Cylinders2
Cylinder size9 in × 24 in (229 mm × 610 mm)[2]
Performance figures
Maximum speed15 mph (24 km/h)[4]
Tractive effort1,900 lbf (8.5 kN)
Career
OperatorsStockton and Darlington
First run27 September 1825
Retired1857
Dispositionstatic display atLocomotion, Shildon

LocomotionNo. 1(originally namedActive) is an earlysteam locomotivethat was built in 1825 by the pioneering railway engineersGeorgeandRobert Stephensonat their manufacturing firm,Robert Stephenson and Company.It became the first steam locomotive to haul a passenger-carrying train on a public railway, theStockton and Darlington Railway(S&DR).

Locomotionwas ordered by the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company in September 1824; its design benefitted from George Stephenson's experience building his series ofKillingworth locomotives.It is believed thatLocomotion No. 1was the first locomotive to make use ofcoupling rodsto link together its driving wheels, reducing the chance of the wheels slipping on the iron rails. However, thecentre-flue boilerproved to be a weakness, providing a poorer heating surface than latermulti-flue boilers.

In September 1825,Locomotionhauled the first train on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first locomotive to run on a public railway. On 1 July 1828, it was heavily damaged when itsboiler explodedatAycliffe Lanestation, killing its driver, John Cree. It was rebuilt, but as a consequence of the rapid advances in locomotive design,Locomotionbecame obsolete within a decade. It was used on the railway until 1850, after which it was converted into astationary engine.In 1857, as a consequence of its historical importance,Locomotionwas preserved and put on display. Between 1892 and 1975, it was on static display at one of the platforms atDarlington Bank Top railway station,and was then on display at theHead of Steammuseum based atDarlington North Road railway stationbetween 1975 and 2021. It was then moved to theLocomotionmuseum in Shildon. A working replica ofLocomotionwas built, and following years of operation atBeamish Museumwas put on display at the Head of Steam museum.

History

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Origins

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On 23 June 1823, the pioneering locomotive manufacturer Robert Stephenson and Company was established by the railway engineers George Stephenson and his son Robert Stephenson, and the businessmenEdward PeaseandThomas Richardson.[5]In November of that year, only months after the company started operations, a key order was placed by the Stockton & Darlington Railway Company for four stationary engines.[citation needed]

On 16 September 1824, the S&DR ordered a pair of steam locomotives, at a price of £550 (about £55,577 today) each. This order was historically important as the first of these locomotives,Active(later renamedLocomotion No. 1), was the first steam locomotive to haul a passenger train on a public railway.[6]

Design

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The No. 1 engine, calledLocomotion,for the Stockton and Darlington Railway

The design ofLocomotion No. 1combined and built on the improvements that George Stephenson had incorporated in his Killingworth locomotives. Construction was supervised byTimothy HackworthandJames Kennedy.The locomotive weighed 6.6 tonnes, with many elements, including the boiler, cylinders and wheels, made ofcast iron,on atimberframe. It had four 4 feet (1.2 m) diameterdriving wheels.[2]

Locomotionused high-pressure (50 psi) steam generated in a centre-flue boiler and driving a pair of verticalcylinders,9 inches (230 mm) in diameter, which were half embedded within the boiler.[2]The boiler had ablastpipein the chimney. The single-flue boiler had a lower heating surface-to-water ratio than later boiler designs.Locomotion's maximum speed was about 15 mph (24 km/h).[4]A pair of cross-heads above the cylinders transmitted the power through a pair ofcoupling rods,making use of a loose eccentric valve gear.[7]Locomotion No. 1is believed to have been the first locomotive to use coupling rods to connect its driving wheels together, an approach that considerably decreased the chance of slipping.[8]

AuthorH. C. Casserleyconsiders thatLocomotion No. 1is most notable for being the first locomotive to haul a passenger train on a public railway, rather than for the innovations in its design.[9]

Operations

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The completedLocomotion No. 1was transported by road from Newcastle to Darlington in September 1825.[10]On 26 September, the day before the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the locomotive was taken on a trial run betweenShildonand Darlington, with a number of the railway's directors aboard the railway's first passenger coach, known as "Experiment".[6][page needed]The driver, who had to perch on a small platform beside the boiler, was James Stephenson, the elder brother of George Stephenson; the fireman, William Gowling, stood on a footplate between the engine and the tender.[10]

On 27 September 1825,Locomotion No. 1hauled the first train on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, driven by George Stephenson.[8][page needed]The train consisted ofLocomotion,eleven wagons ofcoal,the carriage "Experiment", and a further 20 wagons of passengers, guests, and workmen. Around 300 tickets had been sold, but about twice as many people were believed to have been aboard. The train, which had an estimated weight of 80 metric tons (79 long tons; 88 short tons) and was 400 feet (121.9 metres) long, reached a maximum speed of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)), and took two hours to complete the first 8.7 miles (14.0 km) of the journey to Darlington, slowed by a derailed wagon and a blockedfeed pumpvalve for an average speed of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h).[6][page needed]

Darlington Football Club badge

Locomotion No. 1continued to haul trains on the S&DR for three years. On 1 July 1828, the locomotive was heavily damaged when theboiler explodedwhile the train was stopped atAycliffe Lanestation, killing driver John Cree, and wounding water pumper Edward Turnbull.[11]Cree had tied down the arm of asafety valve,which caused the boiler pressure to rise to the point of explosion.[10]

Locomotion No. 1was rebuilt and returned to service and ran until 1850.[2]The engine changed over time; Hackworth changed the wheels from spoked to two piece centre and rims and a Freemantle (parallel) motion replaced the Stephenson's slidebars. On 4 June 1846, it hauled the opening train on the Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway, a subsidiary of the S&DR.[12]

Following its withdrawal,Locomotionwas purchased by Joseph Pease and Partners and converted into astationary pumping enginefor use at their West Collieries inSouth Durham,where it was used until 1857.[2]

Heraldry

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Locomotion No. 1is such an important part of Darlington's history that it is depicted on the town's coat of arms,[13]and on the badge ofits football team.[14]

Preservation

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In 1856, Joseph Pease and his family spent £50 to restore the S&DR Company'sLocomotion No. 1,saving it from the scrapyard when its working life had ended;[15]it was one of the first locomotives to be restored for preservation.

Between 1857 and the 1880s, it was usually on the pedestal display atAlfred Kitching'sworkshop near theHopetown Carriage Works.It was on exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, Newcastle in 1881, Chicago in 1883, Liverpool in 1886, Newcastle in 1887, Paris in 1889, Edinburgh in 1890.Locomotion No. 1was steamed for the Stockton and Darlington Railway's Golden Jubilee in September 1875, and to participate in a procession of locomotives at the George Stephenson Centenary in June 1881.[10]Locomotionalways returned to its static display in Darlington,[15]the headquarters of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company.

From 1892 to 1975,Locomotionwas on static display along withDerwent,another early locomotive, on one of the platforms overlooking the S&DR line to Saltburn-by-the-Sea at Darlington's main stationBank Top. During 1924 it was cosmetically restored. During theSecond World War,it was temporarily relocated (at Stanhope) due to the threat ofbombing.[10]In 1975 Darlington built its railway museum around Locomotion No. 1.[15]

As ownership of the railways changed, the locomotive became aBritish Railhistoric item, all of which were transferred as the National Collection in 1968 to theNational Railway Museum(NRM), now part of the Science Museum Group (SMG). The locomotive, as its ownership changed, remained in Darlington from 1857, in later years on display at theHead of Steammuseum inDarlington,in the same building as Darlington'sNorth Road station.[14]From 1975, it was formally on loan by the NRM to Head of Steam. The loan agreement expired in March 2021, after which the locomotive was moved tothe NRM's outpost museum in Shildon,namedLocomotion.[16]Some in Darlington objected to the move, as the locomotive had resided in Darlington since preservation, and is depicted on the town's coat of arms and on the badges of its football and rugby clubs; it is claimed by some that the locomotive is only owned by the NRM due to an accident of history.[14]An agreement was reached between Darlington Borough Council and theScience Museum Groupwhich will seeLocomotionreturn to Darlington for extended visits in the lead-up to the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 2025.[17]

As the original locomotive is too fragile to return to steam, a working replica was built in 1975, and was resident atBeamish Museum.[18]After a period on display at the Locomotion museum, it moved to Head of Steam in April 2021, replacing the original.[19]Originally only at Darlington on loan from Beamish, ownership of the replica was transferred to Darlington Borough Council, which will see the replica returned to service in time for the S&D's 200th anniversary.[20][21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Ross, David (2004).British steam railways.Bath: Parragon. p. 15.
  2. ^abcdef"The Origin and Progress of Steam Locomotion".The Engineering News.2.McGraw-Hill Publishing Company: 143–146. 1875.
  3. ^Casserley, H.C. (1960).Historic locomotive pocket book.London: Batsford. p. 7.
  4. ^ab"Locomotion No. 1, George Stephenson and the world's first public railway".
  5. ^Stretton, Clement E. (June 1897). "Early Engines of Stephenson and Company".The Railway World.
  6. ^abcBowes, Alderman (1883).George Stephenson, the Locomotive and the First Public Railway: A Lecture Delivered at the Salford Royal Museum and Library.John Heywood.[page needed]
  7. ^The British railway locomotive 1803–1850.London: Science Museum. 1958. p. 11.
  8. ^abHamilton, Ray (10 May 2018).For the Love of Trains: A Celebration of the World's Railways.Summersdale Publishers Ltd.[page needed]
  9. ^Casserley, H.C. (1976).Preserved locomotives(4th ed.). London: Ian Allan. p. 16.ISBN071100725X.
  10. ^abcde"Locomotion No. 1, Stockton & Darlington Railway".engineering-timelines.com. Archived fromthe originalon 19 June 2018.Retrieved19 June2018.
  11. ^Hewison, Christian H. (1983).Locomotive Boiler Explosions.Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 26.ISBN0715383051.
  12. ^"News".The Railway Magazine.Vol. 57. 1925.
  13. ^"Coat of arms (crest) of Darlington".Heraldry wiki.Retrieved15 February2021.
  14. ^abcMistlin, Alex (15 February 2021)."Rival railway museums in row over steam locomotive ownership".The Guardian.
  15. ^abcChris Lloyd (September 2020)."Let's Keep our Railway Heritage on Track!"(PDF).One Darlington.One Darlington Partnership. p. 21.
  16. ^"Watch: Locomotion No 1 arrives in Shildon".The Northern Echo.Retrieved25 March2021.
  17. ^"Science Museum Group and Darlington Borough Council agree future plans for Locomotion No. 1".Locomotion.Science Museum Group. 5 March 2021.Retrieved10 June2021.
  18. ^Satow, F. (1976).Locomotion: concept to creation: the story of the reproduction, 1973–1975.Locomotion Trust.OCLC504762380.
  19. ^Lloyd, Chris (11 March 2021)."Darlington to have replica Locomotion No 1 on display".The Northern Echo.Newsquest Media Group.Retrieved10 June2021.
  20. ^"Decision – Locomotion No 1 and Replica".Darlington Borough Council.17 April 2021.Retrieved10 June2021.
  21. ^Jarman, Paul (6 May 2021)."T&I News 9 2021..."Beamish Transport Online.Retrieved10 June2021.
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