If you have been following along with the online beta for A Dangerous Connection, you know by now that Part Two begins in 1829. If you haven't, the book begins on a time skip to 1824, and then does another one between Part One and Part Two as we both deal with that dangerous connection and set things up for the sixth book, which will deal heavily with the children's stories (expect another time jump!).
We have been seeing hints of the Industrial Revolution going on in the background, but as we move into 1829, it really starts to move more into the foreground, particularly the advent of steam. Steam had been used for a very long time in mines, and was already in use on smaller ships, as we saw when the Stantons took the Margery on the Thames. But arguably the way steam changed the world more than any other was in the transport revolution that was the railways, and the Darcys are going to bear witness to what was arguably the seminal event in railway history: the Rainhill Trials.
The Rainhill Trials were a means of determining the locomotive power for the new Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which was to be the first purpose-built intercity railway that would carry passengers in the world. Before we talk more about that, though, I think it's useful to dig a little into the history leading up to the Liverpool and Manchester.
When we think of railways today, we generally think of electric- or diesel-powered locomotives pulling carriages along a track, and before them, a steam locomotive. But the concept of the track is MUCH older than the various means of power that have pulled the carriages over the years. Running carriages over a track significantly reduces friction compared to running them over a road, and this was discovered millennia ago, with the first evidence of a trackway from 3838 BCE. Early trackways included things like grooves in stone, and then eventually wooden trackways and then finally rails. As it was for so many things, the locomotive power was provided by horses, sometimes in combination with gravity so that the horse would pull the load uphill, and then it would be allowed to roll downhill like a sort of early roller coaster.
Replica waggon on the site of the Tanfield railway (originally built in 1725), with wooden rails
Replica iron and rails at Gloucester
As you can tell by the photos, the waggons that went on these early railways were designed for goods like coal, rather than passengers. That's not to say that people did not occasionally hitch a ride on them, but their purpose was to haul goods.
Much later than the railways came the idea that the pulling power could be provided by something other than horses. The "Atmospheric Engine" was developed by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, with the original purpose of pumping water out of mines. The Newcomen engines weren't very efficient, but since there was plenty of coal at the site where it was mined, this wasn't so much of an issue. But then James Watt patented a more efficient steam engine in 1769, partnering with Matthew Boulton to commercialize it, and this led to steam engines being considered for more purposes than before.
In that same year of 1769, Frenchman Nicolas Joseph Cugnot invented what can truly be called the first horseless carriage.
Cugnot's vehicle (source Wikimedia Commons)
The next big advent in the development of steam railways comes with Richard Trevithick, who saw the potential of combining railways and steam power. He developed the first-ever steam locomotive, and was responsible for the world's first steam-hauled railway journey in 1804, and by 1808 he was set up with a locomotive and carriages in London, running the "Catch Me Who Can" for paying passengers. Ultimately the venture was not a success, and for a long time Trevithick was not given the credit he deserved for advancing the railway age, although this has changed in modern times.
Catch Me Who Can (Wikimedia Commons)
Progress continued on the use of steam to propel railway waggons rather than horses, and the world's oldest surviving locomotive is from 1813-1814, called Puffing Billy and constructed by William Hedley, Jonathan Forster, and Timothy Hackworth. I had a chance to ride behind a replica of Puffing Billy at the Beamish Museum, and while it certainly runs, it does not look like the steam locomotives that would eventually follow.
Puffing Billy replica at Beamish Museum
So by now we have the key components we need for a railway: rails and steam locomotive traction (although by no means was this universal, and cable haulage or horses were often still used). So when do passengers finally get to climb aboard?
Sign outside a pub in Yarm
The answer is in 1825, with the Stockton and Darlington railway. Initially designed to be a cable-hauled railway, engineer George Stephenson advocated for the user of steam locomotives, and won his case, designing Locomotion No. 1 for use on the railway.
The original Locomotion No. 1, preserved at Locomotion Museum in Shildon
Although the railway was not originally designed for passengers, they rapidly embraced it, from the opening day of September 27, 1825, when hundreds clambered aboard to sit in empty waggons and even top the coal for a ride on this new steam-hauled railway. Official passenger traffic began on October 10, 1825, in the aptly named Experiment coach, which was essentially a road coach built with flanged wheels to fit on the rails.
Model of the Experiment coach at Hopetown Darlington
Rails weren't built atop single sleepers (first wood and now concrete, today) as they are today. Instead they were put on individual stones in much the same manner as previous railways.
Section of rail at Hopetown Darlington
Amazingly, most of the route of the Stockton and Darlington is still in use today by Britain's national rail network. I had a chance to ride a good portion of it during my last trip there and it looks much the same as any other rail line. However in the area you can see many of the original locomotives, historic railway buildings, and the station built in 1842 to service the Stockton and Darlington line.
Historic station at Hopetown Darlington
Historic station at Hopetown Darlington
Historic station at Hopetown Darlington
1842 is getting rather ahead of ourselves, however. We need to go back to 1829 and talk about the events of the Rainhill Trials, but for that, you'll need to wait for Part 2!
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