CHAPTER IX
FIRST TRAINS
In 1819 the Patton Colliery, in Durham, was altered into a
locomotive railroad, and Mr. Stephenson appointed its chief engineer.
He soon began his labors, and on the 18th of November, 1822, the
road was opened for the first time for locomotives. Crowds came
from all directions to witness the experiment. Five of Mr. Stephenson's
engines were upon the road that day, each engine drawing after
it seventeen wagons loaded, averaging sixty-four tons, at the
rate of four miles an hour.
Mr. Stephenson next became chief engineer of the Stockton and
Burlington Railway, another coal-road about being constructed.
On account of the nature of the ground over which this road would
pass, and the limited means put into Mr. Stephenson's hands for
its construction, he was compelled to adopt the incline plane
system in those places where too much labor and money would be
required. Other parts of the road were made for horse or steam
power, which of the two had not as yet been determined upon. The
success of Mr. Stephenson's locomotives had been tried and proved
practical, although as yet not a saving in the expense of transportation.
But Mr. Stephenson's views prevailed, and when the road was finished,
on the 27th of September, 1820, he had three engines ready for
its use, They were built at his works, the first ever established
for locomotive manufacture. The Active, No. 1, was the first built
at this establishment. A great deal of excitement and speculation
arose throughout the country when the trial-day approached. The
road was ready, as we have stated. Great crowds were assembled
from every direction to witness the trial; some, more sanguine,
came to witness its success, but far the greater portion came
to see the bubble burst. The proceedings began at Brusselton incline,
where the stationary engine drew a train up the incline on one
side and lowered it down on the other. These wagons were loaded.
At the foot of this plane a locomotive, driven by Mr. Stephenson
himself, was attached to the train. It consisted of six wagons
loaded with coal and flour, next a passenger-coach (the first
ever run upon a railroad) filled with the directors and their
friends, then twenty-one wagons fitted up with temporary seats
for passengers, and lastly came six wagons loaded with coal, making
in all twenty-eight vehicles. The word being given that all was
ready, the engine began to move, gradually at first, but afterwards
in parts-of the road, attained a speed of twelve miles an hour.
At that time the number of passengers amounted to 450, which would,
with the remainder of the load, amount to upward of ninety tons.
The train arrived at Darlington, eight and three-quarter miles,
in sixty-five minutes. Here it was stopped, and a fresh supply
of water was obtained, and the six coal-cars for Darlington detached,
and the word given to go ahead. The engine started, and arrived
at Stockton, twelve miles, in three hours seven minutes, including
stoppages.
By the time the train reached Stockton, the number of passengers
amounted to over 600.
We will here mention that, when this road was first contemplated,
its projectors did not estimate the amount of coal that would
be transported over it above 10,000 tons per annum; but before
a very few years had elapsed, from the facilities offered by the
railroad system, with locomotives instead of horse-power, the
amount of coal transported annually amounted to 500,000 tons,
and has since exceeded that amount. At this trial experiment,
September 27,1825, the first passenger-car, or wagon as it was
called at that day, was put upon the road. It had been ordered
and made at Mr. Stephenson's works, and had only arrived the day
before the trial. It was the vehicle in which the directors and
their friends rode upon the occasion. Although built by Mr. Stephenson,
it was a very modest and uncouth-looking affair, made more for
strength than for beauty. A row of seats ran along each side of
the interior, and a long table was fixed in the center, the access
being by a doorway behind, like an omnibus of the present day.
This vehicle was named the Experiment, and was the only carriage
for passengers upon the road for some time. It was, however, the
forerunner of a mighty traffic, and soon after new and more improved
passenger-carriages were introduced upon the road, all at first
drawn by horses.
The Experiment was first regularly put upon the road for passenger
use on the 10th of October, 1825. It was drawn by one horse, and
performed a journey each day daily between the two towns, twelve
miles, in two hours. This novel way of traveling soon became popular
among the people, and eventually proved so lucrative and extensive,
that the carriage could not contain the number of applicants for
a ride. Inside and outside it was crowded, and every available
spot was occupied. The Experiment, however, was not worked by
the railroad company as passenger-cars are now, but was let to
other parties, they paying a certain toll for the use of the road.
It soon became a lucrative business, and hotel-keepers and others
embarked in the enterprise, and a strong opposition was raised
up between the rival owners or companies. The old carriage, the
Experiment, was found too heavy for one horse; a new one was placed
in its stead, and the old pioneer was afterward used as a railroad
cabin near Shildon. To the driver of the old Experiment the first
introduction of lights being used in passenger-cars, for the comfort
of passengers, is due. This honest and considerate driver, whose
name was Dixon, nightly purchased a penny candle, and when he
was belated and it became dark in the carriage, he would light
his candle and stick it upon the table running along the center
of the carriage, between the two rows of seats, which added much
to the comfort of his patrons.
At that time the transportation of freight, like that of passengers,
was not confined to the company alone. According to their charters,
railroads were public highways. Any individual or company had
the right of using the road with their own private wagons on paying
a certain stipulated toll affixed by law. Like the passenger-carriages,
private individuals owned freight wagons for the transportation
of produce or their own manufactures to market, and used the road
for the purpose. This traffic, like the passenger transportation,
soon led to confusion and delays. Being a single-trackroad, with
only occasional sidings or turnouts here and there upon its route,
the carriages often met upon the way, going in opposite directions.
Then would begin a violent contest between the rival drivers,
not only in words, but sometimes resulting in blows, to determine
who should back to the siding and turn off to allow the other
to pass. In these contests not unfrequently the passengers would
take sides with their respective drivers, and scenes of riot and
pugilistic displays were often the result of these contests, until
one party or the other would be compelled to succumb. After a
while this difficulty was somewhat diminished by the position
parties coming to a kind of understanding that, in meeting upon
the track, the carriage containing the lightest load should back
off to the nearest siding; and finally it became a fixed rule
that, whichever carriage arrived last at the halfway post, planted
between the two sidings, should back off to allow the other to
pass. This plan, though it tended in a great measure to render
less frequent these difficulties and contests, subjected the working
of the road to much trouble and delay, so that these private enterprises
were superseded by the company commencing the regular passenger
transportation system, which by that time became a source of much
importance in the traffic upon the road, and must be considered
as the first introduction of this source of profit upon all railroads
of our time, exceeding, in many cases, the income from the freight
department.
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