3l)t 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Decembeo, 



Georpre Stephenson were made the railways of the north-east, hy 

 Hubert Stejihenson those of the south-east, and hy Locke those of 

 tlie wi'st, fnim Suntlianipton to Glasgow, loaviiii;: only one i^roat 

 sliare for Hninel. Therefore, to the throe named do we owe most 

 (if our railways. At IJirniinifhani their works meet ; and here, some 

 day, will he a fittinf^ seat for scune remembrance of the three. 



Locke was of great help to (ieorfre Stejilienson, and most in the 

 answer to the report of Walker and Rastrick. After the Livor- 

 ]»>ol and Manchester was done, Locke undertook works of his own, 

 wliicli was not taken well by Stephenson. 



In 1S94 there were two great things in George Stephenson's 

 life — the setting up of the Locomotive Factory, and his being 

 named as engineer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. 



It has been already seen how he became known to the Messrs. 

 Pease, of Darlington ; and they set up tlie factory at Newcastle, 

 for the building of locomotive engines, of wliicli there was now 

 some want. Messrs. Murray, Fenton, and AVood, seem to have 

 been builders of engines then.''- Mr. Michael Longridge had a 

 share in the new factory; and afterwards Robert Stephenson.^-' It 

 was first known as the factory of George Stephenson and Co., and 

 afterwards of Robert Stephenson and Co. It still flourishes, under 

 tlie care of Mr. Hutchinson. 



The first locomotive used on the Stockton and Darlington Rail- 

 way was built by George Stephenson, and, we believe, at the New- 

 castle factory. This was the first locomotive used for drawing 

 passengers on a railway, wliich it did in 1825, and is said to be 

 still in being. In 1846 it was decked out, and brought forth to 

 head the train at the opening of the Middlesborougli and Redcar 

 Railway, so that it has had a busy life for a locomotive. It is a 

 shame to us that there is no English museum for such things, or it 

 might be as proudly kept as we are told that of Cugnot is, in the 

 Conxenmfdire des Arts et Mttierx, at Paris. 



From the Newcastle factory have been sent forth engines for the 

 old world and the new ; and there is hardly a land on the railways 

 of which Steplienson's locomotives will not be found. From his 

 great name, these locomotives were much sought for on the open- 

 ing of railways abroad, and from them the French, Flemings, and 

 High Dutch learned to make locomotives. 



Up to 1840, above two hundred and fifty of these engines had 

 been sent forth, and as the price was then high, it will be seen how 

 much money must have come into the hands of the makers. 

 Whether in railways or in the factory, tlie Messrs. Pease had no 

 need to sorrow for anything they did with Stephenson; vvliereas 

 few had anything to do with the other great lights of engineering 

 without making up their minds never to see them again. The 

 lovers of knowledge may overlook the wanderings of great men,— 

 they may look to their heads, and not to their hearts; but when 

 the trust of men of business has been once broken it can never be 

 made whole. The earnings of a good undertaking are a fair 

 ground for doing something greater, — they are looked upon as an 

 earnest ; even where there is a loss, it is fairly looked upon ; but a 

 breach of trust is never thought of but with sorrow. 



The Rocket, the winner of the 500/. on the Li\erpool and Man- 

 chester, was built at Newcastle, and gave a great name to the fac- 

 tory, so that orders poured in from abroad. 



Stephenson most prided himself that Brunei had had to make 

 use of his engines. If in anything Stephenson showed a littleness 

 of feeling, it was about Brunei. He was too much given to do as 

 others did about him, to look upon railways and engines as belong- 

 ing to himself alone, and that no one else had a right to meddle with 

 tliem. He had so often had to fight for his railways and engines, 

 that he miglit well have a fondness for tliem, and think he was 

 made up with them ; having, from 1820 to 1830, to meet the utmost 

 opposition, not only from such men as Mr. li. Thompson and JNIr. 

 Francis Giles," but likewise of such as Mr. James Walker, and 

 Mr. J. U. Rastrick. Forgetting that he himself was the follower 

 of Trevithick, Jessop, and C'ha])man, — the helpmate of James, Bir- 

 kenshaw, Booth, and others, he could not bear co(jlly anytliing 

 which was not of his school. He never forgave Brunei for taking 

 another gauge, although the narrow g.auge was not set up by him- 

 self, but found by liini already set up. In the speech at Tamworth 

 tliis soreness breaks out strongly, and he gives way to very coarse 

 words. He said of the atmos])heric railway, that he had never 

 been to look on it, " because I consider it hum1)ug from begin- 

 ning to end But it is not the only huml)ug. The broad 



gauge is another misconception, as erroneous as the system of 

 the atmospheric railway, only they Iiave got my engines to carry 

 them through." If we wished to draw George Steithenson as any- 

 thing but what he was in truth, we should be very glad to leave 



42 Newtaslle lUayazfne, Vol. I. 43 Galeahead Observer, Aug. ly, lrf4ti. 



44 \\bi3haw's RaiUays of Great Britain. 



out all this, for it shows an utter want of right feeling, and an 

 utter forgetfulness of liis own early life. The atmospheric rail- 

 w;ty or the broad gauge were as well wortb trying as tlie two- 

 cylinder locomotive or tiiliular boiler ; they held forth something 

 which might be done, and it is yet to be seen whetlier they are so 

 far behind as Stephenson says. The locomotive was twenty years 

 old before Stephenson got it to draw passengers on the Stockton 

 and Darlington ; and it has not yet received its full might, after 

 four-and-forty years since it was first set going hy Trevithick. 



At the Trent Valley opening there was no call for tliis show of 

 ill-feeling on the behalf of Stephenson, which makes it tlie worse. 

 He goes on to say, " The Great Western Railway began with en- 

 gines differing as much as jiossible from mine. They put tlie boiler 

 on one carriage and the engine on another ; they had the wheels 

 ten feet in diameter, and were determined to go one hundred miles 

 an hour; but what became of these engines? They retpiired 

 porters to help them out of the station, and they were obliged to 

 call the North Star, which I had sent them from Newcastle, to 

 carry on the train, and though it wanted rest, it was obliged to go 

 out again, and do the duty for which Mr. Brunei's large engine 

 was incapable. " 



George Stephenson had in all likelihood stood by the Wylam 

 tramway when Trevithick's locomotive was helped on by men ; and 

 he might have owned, that if Brunei made up his mind to liave a 

 speed of one hundred miles an hour, he got it in tlie end. A\'hat- 

 ever Stephenson might clioose to say, England owes much to 

 Brunei for spurring on Stephenson; for had it not been for the 

 Great Western we should never have got the great speed which we 

 now have. Brunei fought against the Stepliensons, and they 

 against him ; and in the end, we have higher speed and cheaper 

 working. 



In "•' Whishaw's Railways of Great Britain" will be found a list 

 of all the locomotives in 1839, and in it are many of Stephenson's, 

 some as old as 1830, which were still at work. Tliere was one on the 

 Bolton and Leigh, and two on the Liverpool and Alanchester. Of 

 the year 1831, there was one on the Liverpool and Alanchester, and 

 some on American railways. Of 1832, three on the Liverpool 

 and Manchester. 



fTo lie continued J 



THE STRENGTH OF HUNGERFORD BRIDGE. 



The paper, by Mr. Homersham Cox, on the " Strength of Hun- 

 gerford Bridge," which ajipeared in the part of the Civil Engineer 

 and Architect's Journal for October (p. 292), has no doubt been 

 read with interest and with pleasure. The neat application 

 which he makes of the doctrine of moments to the statical con- 

 ditions of the bridge, cannot fail to gratify every professional 

 reader. He gives sound reasons, too, why the subject is at this 

 moment of the highest practical importance. His calculations 

 exhibit the power in the chains of the bridge to support a certain 

 weight, with all necessary accuracy, it may be admitted ;* but, as 

 one part of the question — namely, the load which it is probable 

 will ever be brought upon the structure — claims a wider considera- 

 tion than he has given to it, and affects the conclusion he has 

 drawn — that "if 9 tons per stjuare inch be the utmost strain which 

 the metal will safely bear, no margin is left for security against 

 the effects of rapid motion" — it is hoped that some further inijuiry 

 into that part may result in advantage. 



Mr. Cox computes the greatest gross load which the suspension 

 ch;»ns can support, witliout exceeding a strain of 9 tons per square 

 inch of iron, as equivalent to a weight of l,57(j tons uniformly 

 distributed, and exerting a tension of 2,GG4 tons. He adds, that 

 " this is in fact the load to which the bridge is actually liable to 



be subjected The weight of the chains (715 tons), added to 



that of the platform, parapet, rods, <S.:c., and a crowd cox'ering the 

 platform with a weight of 100 lb. per square foot, gives, according 

 to Mr. Cowper, the maximum load nt about 1,500 tons." 



The sentence quoted embraces the point which needs examina- 

 tion. 



* In fact, the tension at the lowest point of a catenary is (I'oisson, in *' liarlow on 

 Strength of IVIaieriala,*' p. 30i') T = i^ suspended weight x tolan C; the chains, sus- 

 pension rods, plaiform, and load makini; the weight, and c bL'ini,' the angle at the point 

 of suspension, formed by the horizontal chord with the tangent tn the curve. 



If Ihe curve is considered as a parabola, this becomes T = ^, s bping the span or 

 chord line, and rf the deflection; an expression identical with that given by lilr. Cox. 

 But the suspension chains do not form an exact curve; tlleir ti^uie is a polygon, of which 

 the angles have their loci in a parabola, according to the conoitions assumed : and a 

 th'ini^e in the form of culcnlation rollows in consequence, without hois ever any difference 

 in the result which is worth noUte here. 



