Show JUST ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO SINCE RAN fIRST RAIL WAY TRAIN The he following account of The Thc Centenary C of Railroad Travel is given Riven ien by W. W B. B Paley in tho Railroad Ago Aco A o Gazette Ga Ga- zette Although the fact has has bas apparently escaped esp es es- eap p d public notice it is ig juet a n century ince what may bo ho termed with no very cr stretching of tho phrase tho the first steam train startled it its beholders be be- I bolders holders with its extraordinary capa ili- ili I ties tie Tho The precise date on which Richard d experiments with u u. loco loco- locomotive motive mothe drawing in a road n carriage car r upon flanged ed rails or plates began is 35 a l matter of some flame uncertainty but tb ra is ever reason to suppose it was wason wason on Monday Au Augut t t 1 l 1003 OS The 1 locality ty was vas somewhere rc in tho anle angle formed forme by bythe bythe bythe the Tottenham court rona road roaf and the tho now road road now now called the tho Euston road Loudon Loudon Lou Lou- don clon probably blY us as as nearly as 38 po possible si lo at atthe atthe the thO north end of ot Torrington Square a anai nai neighborhood we well known to the many Americans who prefer board boarding D houses s sto to on their visits to London Here on what bat was then a piece of waste ground erected a circular boarded inclosure charging in 55 f fur for r n nd nd- mission to see the performance of his hi hien en engine inc Evidence E is known to exist that did this feo fee which included people pay a a a. ride rIdo round in 10 the tho open landau or carriage carnage car car- T nage attached to tho the cn engine nc if they could muster up courage o enough How r far fa this goes oes toward l realizing the idea of a 3 passenger train everyone crone must de dc determine de- de termine tOT for or himself Started as a a. Bet The trials seem to have proceeded from a bet between and aud some p person or unknown as to tho the thor r relative capacities f for r work worl of a loco locomotive locomotive motive engine eD lne and of a n race moo hore The affair was to be decided at Newmarket races in ip October 1503 the London experiments ex ox- being bei made probably to a ascertain ab- ab e certain what hat bat chance 8 an n engine m mih bt have Whether the untimely en end of these the co cost t of laying a 1 railway or for the en engine tt e ut at and nd of getting ettin it there ov or the difficulty of arranging fair terms rendered ered tho bet void oid is not known but no trace cc can enn be found that anything was done lone at N Newmarket wm rk t in iu connection with the wager B er A cont contemporary account pays ays th that t it was for the thc sum lUlU of that the In engine was the favorite fa tho the scheme being to s see e which could go o farthest in twenty four hours bours starting DS at the the- same time In tho those e s daj-s tho making of ab absurd rd bets upon every imaginable sub sub- j loot neot t was very Cr Crommon Common and bavin having pr previously iou h won a 3 smaller bet betO O over U his locomotive c performance in I South Wales was vas the more marc likely to enter en en- I t tOT ter r into ito another Had Peculiar Engine The en engine ine used was wa 3 a 1 different one Que apparently simply the tho boiler of a pumping pumping pump pump- ing inK or dredging n engine mounted on OU four smooth wheels with a n single vertical I cylinder sunk in iu it a crossbeam atthe top end of the pi piston ton rod rOil long lon I connecting ro rods s worked tho pair pail of wheels immediately below through h pins In in the latter The Th ou j-ou of boiler rn Tie Tie- I commonly use used hail bad a n cn cast t ironhill iron hill about an ap inch thick thu-k say KIV live th-e feet I l M ng iv and three or four feet in i diameter i The lc De heating arrangement nt could bo be boia ia 3 en out ho bodily h permitting the perfect examination Hou or ct cleaning of the b barrel harrl One Oue of thc these 1 boilers is hi at the South South- K ton museum They 1310 heavy o of oC course J an and not cr very trustworthy trustworthy trust trust- worthy thou though b probably the numerous nuU failures r with them thon were largely duo due ut to toJ J ignorant atit I r t t management rr gave ta notice in iu the that the Steam Racing engine would commence its performances on Tuesday I July 1 19 H lOS 1908 at 11 a. a m. m Probably it it t tIll uia begin b Jin but bit n day its it pro pro proPrietor had Imd to that lie hey were I I pu put off till the tho th the tho ground rol the tho railway on which it was Wl to run 1 being in too soft foft ft and nd spongy pony poD Y requiring a additional ad ad- 1 a 1 support of timber ber However I he h- wrote to a n friend trond on Thursday 1 US that he be bad taken up tho of oi f tile timber aut ami anil iru and laid balks of ot twelve to fourteen fo n inches quai j-quai-f down on tho ground ro lie lied had J al the road rond laid again which no now appears ap op pears very crY firm f JJ The engine was wa pushed p round b by hand to test lest the tho now new work Had No Ballast It sterna plain l laiu n that the ori original failure failure fail fail- ure ur was due to absence of ballast The tern term balk or baulk haulk is applied d u usually to large e len lengths tbs of ot squared timber and would seem seem m to imply that be he bel used l cd longi 1 sleepers Although making a I circular track with such would require elaborate calp carpentry it would at nt least support the plates continuously As there was Vas no doubt of the usual size and weight namely three e feet Jon long and aud forty pounds in in weight ht it is is pretty clear they could ouIa not carry an ton eight en engine nc at ct che miles au an hour with any system of isolated supports Tre Tre- l himself gives gins this as tho weight of the en engine in and aud with a boiler it could bardl hardly have been becu less Ran Ear Some Soma Weeks VC kE No Co 0 account appeared that the present pres pres- eat ent writer has hns been able to trace or 0 of the actual results fC of tho the trials o J notice was 88 given when the they would woul finish nor norI norin norin I in fact when eu they would begin other I than titan the one quoted quote but as 35 tho the letter of Jul July 28 says the writer hopes it will I all bo he complete bv hr h the end of this week July Tuh 30 Monday August 1 was no doubt the actual date Nearly I forty fort years rears later one who had bad ridden rou round l tho the circular railway tim timing n the tho speed as twelve o miles an hour bour wrote that the engine ran 4 f ran for foi some weeks when a a. rail broke and mado tho engine fly fi off at nt a tangent aud and p upset et tho the I ground being very soft fOft at the the time I As poor had spent all his means on the inclosure and costly relaying le- le la laying whilo very rry fe few people came caine to see ee no ho gave o it up and the tho en engine was 15 not put on the tho road again ain One reason for the lack of patronage was no doubt tho the insufficient advertising nd while thu two tro postponements which wInch could appa- appa have bae been ben avoided cd with a n. little forethought must have ha prejudiced pea peo people pie 1110 against n coming comin to fee eo it Very similar cu engines were cra used by y for driving dredging machinery machin cry ery and for many other purposes At Atthe tho the period in question he was el engaged aged in making a tunnel under the Thames between Stepney and almost al al- mo most t on tho the site itc of the one opened inJune in inJune June Junc last in iii fact a temporary sion Zion of works which w v cro ro never Dever gave e a him tho the opportunity to try try the ra railway traction experiments |