Part 14 (2/2)
On the day appointed for the great compet.i.tion of locomotives at Rainhill, the following engines were entered for the prize:-
1. Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson's ”Novelty.” {214}
2. Mr. Timothy Hackworth's ”Sanspareil.”
3. Messrs. R. Stephenson and Co.'s ”Rocket.”
4. Mr. Burstall's ”Perseverance.”
Another engine was entered by Mr. Brandreth of Liverpool-the ”Cycloped,”
weighing 3 tons, worked by a horse in a frame, but it could not be admitted to the compet.i.tion. The above were the only four exhibited, out of a considerable number of engines constructed in different parts of the country in antic.i.p.ation of this contest, many of which could not be satisfactorily completed by the day of trial.
The ground on which the engines were to be tried was a level piece of railroad, about two miles in length. Each was required to make twenty trips, or equal to a journey of 70 miles, in the course of the day; and the average rate of travelling was to be not under 10 miles an hour. It was determined that, to avoid confusion, each engine should be tried separately, and on different days.
[Picture: Locomotive compet.i.tion at Rainhill]
The day fixed for the compet.i.tion was the 1st of October, but to allow sufficient time to get the locomotives into good working order, the directors extended it to the 6th. On the morning of the 6th, the ground at Rainhill presented a lively appearance, and there was as much excitement as if the St. Leger were about to be run. Many thousand spectators looked on, amongst whom were some of the first engineers and mechanicians of the day. A stand was provided for the ladies; the ”beauty and fas.h.i.+on” of the neighbourhood were present, and the side of the railroad was lined with carriages of all descriptions.
It was quite characteristic of the Stephensons, that, although their engine did not stand first on the list for trial, it was the first that was ready; and it was accordingly ordered out by the judges for an experimental trip. Yet the ”Rocket” was by no means ”the favourite” with either the judges or the spectators. A majority of the judges was strongly predisposed in favour of the ”Novelty,” and nine-tenths of those present were against the ”Rocket” because of its appearance. Nearly every person favoured some other engine, so that there was nothing for the ”Rocket” but the practical test. The first trip which it made was quite successful. It ran about 12 miles, without interruption, in about 53 minutes.
The ”Novelty” was next called out. It was a light engine, very compact in appearance, carrying the water and fuel upon the same wheels as the engine. The weight of the whole was only 3 tons and 1 hundredweight. A peculiarity of this engine was that the air was driven or forced through the fire by means of bellows. The day being now far advanced, and some dispute having arisen as to the method of a.s.signing the proper load for the ”Novelty,” no particular experiment was made, further than that the engine traversed the line by way of exhibition, occasionally moving at the rate of 24 miles an hour. The ”Sanspareil,” constructed by Mr.
Timothy Hackworth, was next exhibited; but no particular experiment was made with it on this day.
The contest was postponed until the following day, but before the judges arrived on the ground, the bellows for creating the blast in the ”Novelty” gave way, and it was found incapable of going through its performance. A defect was also detected in the boiler of the ”Sanspareil;” and some further time was allowed to get it repaired. The large number of spectators who had a.s.sembled to witness the contest were greatly disappointed at this postponement; but, to lessen it, Stephenson again brought out the ”Rocket,” and, attaching to it a coach containing thirty persons, he ran them along the line at the rate of from 24 to 30 miles an hour, much to their gratification and amazement. Before separating, the judges ordered the engine to be in readiness by eight o'clock on the following morning, to go through its definitive trial according to the prescribed conditions.
On the morning of the 8th October, the ”Rocket” was again ready for the contest. The engine was taken to the extremity of the stage, the fire-box was filled with c.o.ke, the fire lighted, and the steam raised until it lifted the safety-valve loaded to a pressure of 50 pounds to the square inch. This proceeding occupied fifty-seven minutes. The engine then started on its journey, dragging after it about 13 tons weight in waggons, and made the first ten trips backwards and forwards along the two miles of road, running the 35 miles, including stoppages, in one hour and 48 minutes. The second ten trips were in like manner performed in 2 hours and 3 minutes. The maximum velocity attained during the trial trip was 29 miles an hour, or about three times the speed that one of the judges of the compet.i.tion had declared to be the limit of possibility.
The average speed at which the whole of the journeys were performed was 15 miles an hour, or 5 miles beyond the rate specified in the conditions published by the Company. The entire performance excited the greatest astonishment amongst the a.s.sembled spectators; the directors felt confident that their enterprise was now on the eve of success; and George Stephenson rejoiced to think that in spite of all false prophets and fickle counsellors, the locomotive system was now safe. When the ”Rocket,” having performed all the conditions of the contest, arrived at the ”grand stand” at the close of its day's successful run, Mr.
Cropper-one of the directors favourable to the fixed-engine system-lifted up his hands, and exclaimed, ”Now has George Stephenson at last delivered himself!”
Neither the ”Novelty” nor the ”Sanspareil” was ready for trial until the 10th, on the morning of which day an advertis.e.m.e.nt appeared, stating that the former engine was to be tried on that day, when it would perform more work than any engine upon the ground. The weight of the carriages attached to it was only about 7 tons. The engine pa.s.sed the first post in good style; but in returning, the pipe from the forcing-pump burst and put an end to the trial. The pipe was afterwards repaired, and the engine made several trips by itself, in which it was said to have gone at the rate of from 24 to 28 miles an hour.
The ”Sanspareil” was not ready until the 13th; and when its boiler and tender were filled with water, it was found to weigh 4 cwt. beyond the weight specified in the published conditions as the limit of four-wheeled engines; nevertheless the judges allowed it to run on the same footing as the other engines, to enable them to ascertain whether its merits ent.i.tled it to favourable consideration. It travelled at the average speed of about 14 miles an hour, with its load attached; but at the eighth trip the cold-water pump got wrong, and the engine could proceed no further.
It was determined to award the premium to the successful engine on the following day, the 14th, on which occasion there was an unusual a.s.semblage of spectators. The owners of the ”Novelty” pleaded for another trial; and it was conceded. But again it broke down. The owner of the ”Sanspareil” also requested the opportunity for making another trial of his engine. But the judges had now had enough of failures; and they declined, on the ground that not only was the engine above the stipulated weight, but that it was constructed on a plan which they could not recommend for adoption by the directors of the Company. One of the princ.i.p.al practical objections to this locomotive was the enormous quant.i.ty of c.o.ke consumed or wasted by it-about 692 lbs. per hour when travelling-caused by the sharpness of the steam-blast in the chimney, which blew a large proportion of the burning c.o.ke into the air.
The ”Perseverance” was found unable to move at more than five or six miles an hour; and it was withdrawn from the contest at an early period.
The ”Rocket” was thus the only engine that had performed, and more than performed, all the stipulated conditions; and its owners were declared to be fully ent.i.tled to the prize of 500, which was awarded to the Messrs.
Stephenson and Booth accordingly. And further, to show that the engine had been working quite within its powers, Mr. Stephenson ordered it to be brought upon the ground and detached from all inc.u.mbrances, when, in making two trips, it was found to travel at the astonis.h.i.+ng rate of 35 miles an hour.
The ”Rocket” had thus eclipsed the performances of all locomotive engines that had yet been constructed, and outstripped even the sanguine expectations of its constructors. It satisfactorily answered the report of Messrs. Walker and Rastrick; and established the efficiency of the locomotive for working the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and indeed all future railways. The ”Rocket” showed that a new power had been born into the world, full of activity and strength, with boundless capability of work. It was the simple but admirable contrivance of the steam-blast, and its combination with the mult.i.tubular boiler, that at once gave the locomotive a vigorous life, and secured the triumph of the railway system. {219} It has been well observed, that this wonderful ability to increase and multiply its powers of performance with the emergency that demands them, has made this giant engine the n.o.blest creation of human wit, the very lion among machines. The success of the Rainhill experiment, as judged by the public, may be inferred from the fact that the shares of the Company immediately rose ten per cent., and nothing more was heard of the proposed twenty-one fixed engines, engine-houses, ropes, etc. All this c.u.mbersome apparatus was thenceforward effectually disposed of.
Very different now was the tone of those directors who had distinguished themselves by the persistency of their opposition to Mr. Stephenson's plans. Coolness gave way to eulogy, and hostility to unbounded offers of friends.h.i.+p-after the manner of many men who run to the help of the strong. Deeply though the engineer had felt aggrieved by the conduct pursued towards him during this eventful struggle, by some from whom forbearance was to have been expected, he never entertained towards them in after life any angry feelings; on the contrary, he forgave all. But though the directors afterwards pa.s.sed unanimous resolutions eulogising ”the great skill and unwearied energy” of their engineer, he himself, when speaking confidentially to those with whom he was most intimate, could not help pointing out the difference between his ”foul-weather and fair-weather friends.” Mr. Gooch says of him that though naturally most cheerful and kind-hearted in his disposition, the anxiety and pressure which weighed upon his mind during the construction of the railway, had the effect of making him occasionally impatient and irritable, like a spirited horse touched by the spur; though his original good-nature from time to time shone through it all. When the line had been brought to a successful completion, a very marked change in him became visible. The irritability pa.s.sed away, and when difficulties and vexations arose they were treated by him as matters of course, and with perfect composure and cheerfulness.
[Picture: Railway versus Road]
CHAPTER XII.
OPENING OF THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY, AND EXTENSION OF THE RAILWAY SYSTEM.
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