Chapter 27

GEORGE STEPHENSON ENGINEER OF THE STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON RAILWAY.

The district west of Darlington, in Durham, is one of the richest mineral fields of the North. Vast stores of coal underlie the Bishop Auckland Valley; and from an early period new and good roads to market were felt to be exceedingly desirable. As yet it remained almost a closed field, the cost of transport of the coal in carts, or on horses' or donkeys' backs, greatly limiting the sale. Long ago, in the days of canal formations, Brindley was consulted about a canal; afterwards, in 1812, a tramroad was surveyed by Rennie; and eventually, in 1817, a railway was projected from Darlington to Stockton-on-Tees.

[Picture: Map of Stockton and Darlington Railway]

Of this railway Edward Pease was the projector. A thoughtful and sagacious man, ready in resources, possessed of indomitable energy and perseverance, he was eminently qualified to undertake what appeared to many the hopeless enterprise of obtaining an Act for a railway through such an unpromising district. One who knew him in 1818 said, "he was a man who could see a hundred years ahead."

[Picture: Edward Pease]

When the writer last saw him, in the autumn of 1854, Mr. Pease was in his eighty-eighth year; yet he still possessed the hopefulness and mental vigour of a man in his prime. Hale and hearty, and full of reminiscences of the past, he continued to take an active interest in all measures calculated to render men happier and better. Still sound in health, his eye had not lost its brilliancy, nor his cheek its colour; and there was an elasticity in his step which younger men might have envied. {125}

In getting up a company for surveying and forming a railway, Mr. Pease had great difficulties to encounter. The people of the neighbourhood spoke of it as a ridiculous undertaking, and predicted that it would be ruinous to all concerned. Even those most interested in the opening of new markets for their coal, were indifferent, if not actually hostile. The Stockton merchants and shipowners, whom it was calculated so greatly to benefit, gave the project no support; and not twenty shares were subscribed for in the whole town. Mr. Pease nevertheless persevered; and he induced many of his friends and relations to subscribe the capital required.

The necessary preliminary steps were taken in 1818 to apply for an act to authorise the construction of a tramroad from Witton to Stockton. The measure was however, strongly opposed by the Duke of Cleveland, because the proposed line passed close by one of his fox covers; and the bill was rejected. A new survey was then made, avoiding the Duke's cover; and in 1819 a renewed application was made to Parliament. The promoters were this time successful, and the royal assent was given to the first Stockton and Darlington Railway Act on the 19th April, 1821.

The projectors did not originally contemplate the employment of locomotives. The Act provided for the making and maintaining of tramroads for the passage "of waggons and other carriages" "_with men and horses_ or otherwise," and a further clause made provision for damages done in course of traffic by the "waggoners." The public were to be free "to use with horses, cattle and carriages," the roads formed by the company, on payment of the authorised rates, "between the hours of seven in the morning and six in the evening," during winter; "between six in the morning and eight in the evening," in two of the spring and autumn months; and "between five in the morning and ten in the evening," in the summer months of May, June, July, and August. From this it will be obvious that the projectors of the line had themselves at first no very large conceptions as to the scope of their project.

One day, in the spring of 1821, two strangers knocked at the door of Mr. Pease's house in Darlington; and the message was brought to him that some persons from Killingworth wanted to speak with him. They were invited in, on which one of the visitors introduced himself as Nicholas Wood, viewer at Killingworth, and then turning to his companion, he introduced him as George Stephenson, engine-wright, of the same place.

Mr. Pease entered into conversation with his visitors, and was soon told their object. Stephenson had heard of the passing of the Stockton and Darlington Act, and desiring to increase his railway experience, and also to employ in some larger field the practical knowledge he had already gained, he determined to visit the known projector of the undertaking, with the view of being employed to carry it out. He had brought with him his friend Wood, for the purpose at the same time of relieving his diffidence, and supporting his application.

Mr. Pease liked the appearance of his visitor: "there was," as he afterwards remarked when speaking of Stephenson, "such an honest, sensible look about him, and he seemed so modest and unpretending. He spoke in the strong Northumbrian dialect of his district, and described himself as 'only the engine-wright at Killingworth; that's what he was.'"

Mr. Pease soon saw that our engineer was the very man for his purpose. The whole plans of the railway were still in an undetermined state, and Mr. Pease was therefore glad to have the opportunity of profiting by Stephenson's experience. In the course of their conversation, the latter strongly recommended a _railway_ in preference to a tramroad. They also discussed the kind of tractive power to be employed: Mr. Pease stating that the company had based their whole calculations on the employment of _horse_ power. "I was so satisfied," said he afterwards, "that a horse upon an iron road would draw ten tons for one ton on a common road, that I felt sure that before long the railway would become the King's highway." But Mr. Pease was scarcely prepared for the bold assertion made by his visitor, that the locomotive engine with which he had been working the Killingworth Railway for many years past was worth fifty horses, and that engines made after a similar plan would yet entirely supersede all horse power upon railroads. Stephenson was daily becoming more positive as to the superiority of his locomotive; and hence he strongly urged Mr. Pease to adopt it. "Come over to Killingworth," said he, "and see what my engines can do; seeing is believing, sir." Mr. Pease accordingly promised that on some early day he would go over to Killingworth, and take a look at the wonderful machine that was to supersede horses. The result of the interview was, that Mr. Pease promised to bring Stephenson's application for the appointment of engineer before the Directors, and to support it with his influence; whereon the two visitors prepared to take their leave, informing Mr. Pease that they intended to return to Newcastle "by nip;" that is, they expected to get a smuggled lift on the stage-coach, by tipping Jehu,--for in those days the stage coachmen regarded all casual roadside passengers as their proper perquisites. They had, however, been so much engrossed by their conversation, that the lapse of time was forgotten, and when Stephenson and his friend made enquiries about the return coach, they found the last had left; and they had to walk the 18 miles to Durham on their way back to Newcastle.

Mr. Pease having made further inquiries respecting Stephenson's character and qualifications, and having received a very strong recommendation of him as the right man for the intended work, he brought the subject of his application before the directors of the Stockton and Darlington Company. They resolved to adopt his recommendation that a railway be formed instead of a tramroad; and they further requested Mr. Pease to write to Stephenson, desiring him to undertake a re-survey of the line at the earliest practicable period.

A man was despatched on a horse with the letter, and when he reached Killingworth he made diligent enquiry after the person named upon the address, "George Stephenson, Esquire, Engineer." No such person was known in the village. It is said that the man was on the point of giving up all further search, when the happy thought struck some of the colliers' wives who had gathered about him, that it must be "Geordie the engine-wright" the man was in search of; and to Geordie's cottage he accordingly went, found him at home, and delivered the letter.

About the end of September, Stephenson went carefully over the line of the proposed railway, for the purpose of suggesting such improvements and deviations as he might consider desirable. He was accompanied by an assistant and a chainman,--his son Robert entering the figures while his father took the sights. After being engaged in the work at intervals for about six weeks, Stephenson reported the result of his survey to the Board of Directors, and showed that by certain deviations, a line shorter by about three miles might be constructed at a considerable saving in expense, while at the same time more favourable gradients--an important consideration--would be secured.

It was, however, determined in the first place to proceed with the works at those parts of the line where no deviation was proposed; and the first rail of the Stockton and Darlington Railway was laid with considerable ceremony, near Stockton, on the 23rd May, 1822.

It is worthy of note that Stephenson, in making his first estimate of the cost of forming the railway according to the Instructions of the directors, set down, as part of the cost, 6200 pounds for stationary engines, not mentioning locomotives at all. The directors as yet confined their views to the employment only of horses for the haulage of the coals, and of fixed engines and ropes where horse-power was not applicable. The whole question of steam locomotive power was, in the estimation of the public, as well as of practical and scientific men, as yet in doubt. The confident anticipations of George Stephenson, as to the eventual success of locomotive engines, were regarded as mere speculations; and when he gave utterance to his views, as he frequently took the opportunity of doing, it even had the effect of shaking the confidence of some of his friends in the solidity of his judgment and his practical qualities as an engineer.

When Mr. Pease discussed the question with Stephenson, his remark was, "Come over and see my engines at Killingworth, and satisfy yourself as to the efficiency of the locomotive. I will show you the colliery books, that you may ascertain for yourself the actual cost of working. And I must tell you that the economy of the locomotive engine is no longer a matter of theory, but a matter of fact." So confident was the tone in which Stephenson spoke of the success of his engines, and so important were the consequences involved in arriving at a correct conclusion on the subject, that Mr. Pease at length resolved upon paying a visit to Killingworth in the summer of 1822, to see with his own eyes the wonderful new power so much vaunted by the engineer.

When Mr. Pease arrived at Killingworth village, he inquired for George Stephenson, and was told that he must go over to the West Moor, and seek for a cottage by the roadside, with a dial over the door--"that was where George Stephenson lived." They soon found the house with the dial; and on knocking, the door was opened by Mrs. Stephenson--his second wife (Elizabeth Hindmarsh), the daughter of a farmer at Black Callerton, whom he had married in 1820. {129} Her husband, she said, was not in the house at present, but she would send for him to the colliery. And in a short time Stephenson appeared before them in his working dress, just as he had come out of the pit.

He very soon had his locomotive brought up to the crossing close by the end of the cottage,--made the gentlemen mount it, and showed them its paces. Harnessing it to a train of loaded waggons, he ran it along the railroad, and so thoroughly satisfied his visitors of its power and capabilities, that from that day Edward Pease was a declared supporter of the locomotive engine. In preparing the Amended Stockton and Darlington Act, at Stephenson's urgent request Mr. Pease had a clause inserted, taking power to work the railway by means of locomotive engines, and to employ them for the haulage of passengers as well as of merchandise. {130} The Act was obtained in 1823, on which Stephenson was appointed the company's engineer at a salary of 300 pounds per annum; and it was determined that the line should be constructed and opened for traffic as soon as practicable.

He at once proceeded, accompanied by his assistants, with the working survey of the line, laying out every foot of the ground himself. Railway surveying was as yet in its infancy, and was slow and difficult work. It afterwards became a separate branch of railway business, and was entrusted to a special staff. Indeed on no subsequent line did George Stephenson take the sights through the spirit level with his own hands and eyes as he did on this railway. He started very early--dressed in a blue tailed coat, breeches, and top-boots--and surveyed until dusk. He was not at any time particular as to his living; and during the survey, he took his chance of getting a little milk and bread at some cottager's house along the line, or occasionally joined in a homely dinner at some neighbouring farmhouse. The country people were accustomed to give him a hearty welcome when he appeared at their door; for he was always full of cheery and homely talk, and, when there were children about the house, he had plenty of humorous chat for them as well as for their seniors.

After the day's work was over, George would drop in at Mr. Pease's, to talk over the progress of the survey, and discuss various matters connected with the railway. Mr. Pease's daughters were usually present; and on one occasion, finding the young ladies learning the art of embroidery, he volunteered to instruct them. {131} "I know all about it," said he; "and you will wonder how I learnt it. I will tell you. When I was a brakesman at Killingworth, I learnt the art of embroidery while working the pitmen's buttonholes by the engine fire at nights." He was never ashamed, but on the contrary rather proud, of reminding his friends of these humble pursuits of his early life. Mr. Pease's family were greatly pleased with his conversation, which was always amusing and instructive; full of all sorts of experience, gathered in the oddest and most out-of-the-way places. Even at that early period, before he mixed in the society of educated persons, there was a dash of speculativeness in his remarks, which gave a high degree of originality to his conversation; and he would sometimes, in a casual remark, throw a flash of light upon a subject, which called up a train of pregnant suggestions.

One of the most important subjects of discussion at these meetings with Mr. Pease, was the establishment of a manufactory at Newcastle for the building of locomotive engines. Up to this time all the locomotives constructed after Stephenson's designs, had been made by ordinary mechanics working among the collieries in the North of England. But he had long felt that the accuracy and style of their workmanship admitted of great improvement, and that upon this the more perfect action of the locomotive engine, and its general adoption, in a great measure depended. One great object that he had in view in establishing the proposed factory was, to concentrate a number of good workmen, for the purpose of carrying out the improvements in detail which he was constantly making in his engine. He felt hampered by the want of efficient help from skilled mechanics, who could work out in a practical form the ideas of which his busy mind was always so prolific. Doubtless, too, he believed that the manufactory would prove a remunerative investment, and that, on the general adoption of the railway system which he anticipated, he would derive solid advantages from the fact of his establishment being the only one of the kind for the special construction of locomotive engines.

Mr. Pease approved of his design, and strongly recommended him to carry it into effect. But there was the question of means; and Stephenson did not think he had capital enough for the purpose. He told Mr. Pease that he could advance 1000 pounds--the amount of the testimonial presented by the coal-owners for his safety-lamp invention, which he had still left untouched; but he did not think this sufficient for the purpose, and he thought that he should require at least another 1000 pounds. Mr. Pease had been very much struck with the successful performances of the Killingworth engine; and being an accurate judge of character, he believed that he could not go far wrong in linking a portion of his fortune with the energy and industry of George Stephenson. He consulted his friend Thomas Richardson in the matter; and the two consented to advance 500 pounds each for the purpose of establishing the engine factory at Newcastle. A piece of land was accordingly purchased in Forth Street, in August, 1823, on which a small building was erected--the nucleus of the gigantic establishment which was afterwards formed around it; and active operations were begun early in 1824.

While the Stockton and Darlington Railway works were in progress, our engineer had many interesting discussions with Mr. Pease, on points connected with its construction and working, the determination of which in a great measure affected the formation and working of all future railways. The most important points were these:

1. The comparative merits of cast and wrought iron rails.

2. The gauge of the railway.

3. The employment of horse or engine power in working it, when ready for traffic.

The kind of rails to be laid down to form the permanent road was a matter of considerable importance. A wooden tramroad had been contemplated when the first Act was applied for; but Stephenson having advised that an iron road should be laid down, he was instructed to draw up a specification of the rails. He went before the directors to discuss with them the kind of material to be specified. He was himself interested in the patent for cast-iron rails, which he had taken out in conjunction with Mr. Losh in 1816; and, of course, it was to his interest that his articles should be used. But when requested to give his opinion on the subject, he frankly said to the directors, "Well, gentlemen, to tell you the truth, although it would put 500 pounds in my pocket to specify my own patent rails, I cannot do so after the experience I have had. If you take my advice, you will not lay down a single cast-iron rail." "Why?" asked the directors. "Because they will not stand the weight, and you will be at no end of expense for repairs and relays." "What kind of road, then," he was asked, "would you recommend?" "Malleable rails, certainly," said he; "and I can recommend them with the more confidence from the fact that at Killingworth we have had some Swedish bars laid down--nailed to wooden sleepers--for a period of fourteen years, the waggons passing over them daily; and there they are, in use yet, whereas the cast rails are constantly giving way."

The price of malleable rails was, however, so high--being then worth about 12 pounds per ton as compared with cast-iron rails at about 5 pounds 10s.--and the saving of expense was so important a consideration with the subscribers, that Stephenson was directed to provide, in the specification, that only one-half of the rails required--or about 800 tons--should be of malleable iron, and the remainder of cast-iron. The malleable rails were of the kind called "fish-bellied," and weighed 28 lbs. to the yard, being 2.25 inches broad at the top, with the upper flange 0.75 inch thick. They were only 2 inches in depth at the points at which they rested on the chairs, and 3.25 inches in the middle or bellied part.

When forming the road, the proper gauge had also to be determined. What width was this to be? The gauge of the first tramroad laid down had virtually settled the point. The gauge of wheels of the common vehicles of the country--of the carts and waggons employed on common roads, which were first used on the tramroads--was about 4 feet 8.5 inches. And so the first tramroads were laid down of this gauge. The tools and machinery for constructing coal-waggons and locomotives were formed with this gauge in view. The Wylam waggon-way, afterwards the Wylam plate-way, the Killingworth railroad, and the Hetton rail road, were as nearly as possible on the same gauge. Some of the earth-waggons used to form the Stockton and Darlington road were brought from the Hetton railway; and others which were specially constructed were formed of the same dimensions, these being intended to be afterwards employed in the working of the traffic.

As the period drew near for the opening of the line, the question of the tractive power to be employed was anxiously discussed. At the Brusselton incline, fixed engines must necessarily be made use of; but with respect to the mode of working the railway generally, it was decided that horses were to be largely employed, and arrangements were made for their purchase. The influence of Mr. Pease also secured that a fair trial should be given to the experiment of working the traffic by locomotive power; and three engines were ordered from the firm of Stephenson and Co., Newcastle, which were put in hand forthwith, in anticipation of the opening of the railway. These were constructed after Mr. Stephenson's most matured designs, and embodied all the improvements which he had contrived up to that time. No. I. engine, the "Locomotion," which was first delivered, weighed about eight tons. It had one large flue or tube through the boiler, by which the heated air passed direct from the furnace at one end, lined with fire-bricks, to the chimney at the other. The combustion in the furnace was quickened by the adoption of the steam-blast in the chimney. The heat raised was sometimes so great, and it was so imperfectly abstracted by the surrounding water, that the chimney became almost red-hot. Such engines, when put to their speed, were found capable of running at the rate of from twelve to sixteen miles an hour; but they were better adapted for the heavy work of hauling coal-trains at low speeds--for which, indeed, they were specially constructed--than for running at the higher speeds afterwards adopted. Nor was it contemplated by the directors as possible, at the time when they were ordered, that locomotives could be made available for the purposes of passenger travelling. Besides, the Stockton and Darlington Railway did not run through a district in which passengers were supposed to be likely to constitute any considerable portion of the traffic.

We may easily imagine the anxiety felt by Mr. Stephenson during the progress of the works towards completion, and his mingled hopes and doubts (though his doubts were but few) as to the issue of this great experiment. When the formation of the line near Stockton was well advanced, Mr. Stephenson one day, accompanied by his son Robert and John Dixon, made a journey of inspection of the works. The party reached Stockton, and proceeded to dine at one of the inns there. After dinner, Stephenson ventured on the very unusual measure of ordering in a bottle of wine, to drink success to the railway. John Dixon relates with pride the utterance of the master on the occasion. "Now, lads," said he to the two young men, "I venture to tell you that I think you will live to see the day when railways will supersede almost all other methods of conveyance in this country--when mail-coaches will go by railway, and railroads will become the great highway for the king and all his subjects. The time is coming when it will be cheaper for a working man to travel upon a railway than to walk on foot. I know there are great and almost insurmountable difficulties to be encountered; but what I have said will come to pass as sure as you live. I only wish I may live to see the day, though that I can scarcely hope for, as I know how slow all human progress is, and with what difficulty I have been able to get the locomotive thus far adopted, notwithstanding my more than ten years' successful experiment at Killingworth." The result, however, outstripped even the most sanguine anticipations of Stephenson; and his son Robert, shortly after his return from America in 1827, saw his father's locomotive generally employed as the tractive power on railways.

The Stockton and Darlington line was opened for traffic on the 27th September, 1825. An immense concourse of people assembled from all parts to witness the ceremony of opening this first public railway. The powerful opposition which the project had encountered, the threats which were still uttered against the company by the road-trustees and others, who declared that they would yet prevent the line being worked, and perhaps the general unbelief as to its success which still prevailed, tended to excite the curiosity of the public as to the result. Some went to rejoice at the opening, some to see the "bubble burst;" and there were many prophets of evil who would not miss the blowing up of the boasted travelling engine. The opening was, however, auspicious. The proceedings commenced at Brusselton Incline, about nine miles above Darlington, where the fixed engine drew a train of loaded waggons up the incline from the west, and lowered them on the east side. At the foot of the incline a locomotive was in readiness to receive them, Stephenson himself driving the engine. The train consisted of six waggons loaded with coals and flour; after these was the passenger-coach, filled with the directors and their friends, and then twenty-one waggons fitted up with temporary seats for passengers; and lastly came six waggon-loads of coals, making in all a train of thirty-eight vehicles. The local chronicler of the day almost went beside himself in describing the extraordinary event:--"The signal being given," he says, "the engine started off with this immense train of carriages; and such was its velocity, that in some parts the speed was frequently 12 miles an hour!" By the time it reached Stockton there were about 600 persons in the train or hanging on to the waggons, which must have gone at a safe and steady pace of from four to six miles an hour from Darlington. "The arrival at Stockton," it is added, "excited a deep interest and admiration."

The working of the line then commenced, and the results were such as to surprise even the most sanguine of its projectors. The traffic upon which they had formed their estimates of profit proved to be small in comparison with that which flowed in upon them which they had never dreamt of. Thus, what the company had principally relied upon for their receipts was the carriage of coals for land sale at the stations along the line, whereas the haulage of coals to the seaports for exportation to the London market was not contemplated as possible. When the bill was before Parliament, Mr. Lambton (afterwards Earl of Durham) succeeded in getting a clause inserted, limiting the charge for the haulage of all coal to Stockton-on-Tees for the purpose of shipment to 0.5d. per ton per mile; whereas a rate of 4d. per ton was allowed to be taken for all coals led upon the railway for land sale. Mr. Lambton's object in enforcing the low rate of 0.5d. was to protect his own trade in coal exported from Sunderland and the northern ports. He believed, in common with everybody else, that the 0.5d. rate would effectually secure him against competition on the part of the Company; for it was not considered possible to lead coals at that price, and the proprietors of the railway themselves considered that such a rate would be utterly ruinous. The projectors never contemplated sending more than 10,000 tons a year to Stockton, and those only for shipment as ballast; they looked for their profits almost exclusively to the land sale. The result, however, was as surprising to them as it must have been to Mr. Lambton. The 0.5d. rate which was forced upon them, instead of being ruinous, proved the vital element in the success of the railway. In the course of a few years, the annual shipment of coal, led by the Stockton and Darlington Railway to Stockton and Middlesborough, was more than 500,000 tons; and it has since far exceeded this amount. Instead of being, as anticipated, a subordinate branch of traffic, it proved, in fact, the main traffic, while the land sale was merely subsidiary.

The anticipations of the company as to passenger traffic were in like manner more than realised. At first, passengers were not thought of; and it was only while the works were in progress that the starting of a passenger coach was seriously contemplated. The number of persons travelling between the two towns was very small; and it was not known whether these would risk their persons upon the iron road. It was determined, however, to make trial of a railway coach; and Mr. Stephenson was authorised to have one built at Newcastle, at the cost of the company. This was done accordingly; and the first railway passenger carriage was built after our engineer's design. It was, however, a very modest, and indeed a somewhat uncouth machine, more resembling the caravans still to be seen at country fairs containing the "Giant and the Dwarf" and other wonders of the world, than a passenger-coach of any extant form. A row of seats ran along each side of the interior, and a long deal table was fixed in the centre; the access being by means of a door at the back end, in the manner of an omnibus.

[Picture: The First Railway Coach]

This coach arrived from Newcastle the day before the opening, and formed part of the railway procession above described. Mr. Stephenson was consulted as to the name of the coach, and he at once suggested "The Experiment;" and by this name it was called. The Company's arms were afterwards painted on her side, with the motto "Periculum privatum utilitas publica." Such was the sole passenger-carrying stock of the Stockton and Darlington Company in the year 1825. But the "Experiment" proved the forerunner of a mighty traffic: and long time did not elapse before it was displaced, not only by improved coaches (still drawn by horses), but afterwards by long trains of passenger-carriages drawn by locomotive engines.

"The Experiment" was fairly started as a passenger-coach on the 10th October, 1825, a fortnight after the opening of the line. It was drawn by one horse, and performed a journey daily each way between the two towns, accomplishing the distance of twelve miles in about two hours. The fare charged was a shilling without distinction of class; and each passenger was allowed fourteen pounds of luggage free. "The Experiment" was not, however, worked by the company, but was let to contractors who worked it under an arrangement whereby toll was paid for the use of the line, rent of booking-cabins, etc.

The speculation answered so well, that several private coaching companies were shortly after got up by innkeepers at Darlington and Stockton, for the purpose of running other coaches upon the railroad; and an active competition for passenger traffic sprang up. "The Experiment" being found too heavy for one horse to draw, besides being found an uncomfortable machine, was banished to the coal district. Its place was then supplied by other and better vehicles,--though they were no other than old stage-coach bodies purchased by the company, and each mounted upon an underframe with flange-wheels. These were let on hire to the coaching companies, who horsed and managed them under an arrangement as to tolls, in like manner as the "Experiment" had been worked. Now began the distinction of inside and outside passengers, equivalent to first and second class, paying different fares. The competition with each other upon the railway, and with the ordinary stagecoaches upon the road, soon brought up the speed, which was increased to ten miles an hour--the mail-coach rate of travelling in those days, and considered very fast.

Mr. Clephan, a native of the district, has described some of the curious features of the competition between the rival coach companies:--"There were two separate coach companies in Stockton, and amusing collisions sometimes occurred between the drivers--who found on the rail a novel element for contention. Coaches cannot pass each other on the rail as on the road; and, as the line was single, with four sidings in the mile, when two coaches met, or two trains, or coach and train, the question arose which of the drivers must go back? This was not always settled in silence. As to trains, it came to be a sort of understanding that empty should give way to loaded waggons; and as to trains and coaches, that the passengers should have preference over coals; while coaches, when they met, must quarrel it out. At length, midway between sidings, a post was erected, and a rule was laid down that he who had passed the pillar must go on, and the 'coming man' go back. At the Goose Pool and Early Nook, it was common for these coaches to stop; and there, as Jonathan would say, passengers and coachmen 'liquored.' One coach, introduced by an innkeeper, was a compound of two mourning-coaches,--an approximation to the real railway-coach, which still adheres, with multiplying exceptions, to the stage-coach type. One Dixon, who drove the 'Experiment' between Darlington and Shildon, is the inventor of carriage-lighting on the rail. On a dark winter night, having compassion on his passengers, he would buy a penny candle, and place it lighted amongst them on the table of the 'Experiment'--the first railway-coach (which, by the way, ended its days at Shildon as a railway cabin), being also the first coach on the rail (first, second, and third class jammed all into one) that indulged its customers with light in darkness."

The traffic of all sorts increased so steadily and so rapidly that considerable difficulty was experienced in working it satisfactorily. It had been provided by the first Stockton and Darlington Act that the line should be free to all parties who chose to use it at certain prescribed rates, and that any person might put horses and waggons on the railway, and carry for himself. But this arrangement led to increasing confusion and difficulty, and could not continue in the face of a large and rapidly-increasing traffic. The goods trains got so long that the carriers found it necessary to call in the aid of the locomotive engine to help them on their way. Then mixed trains of passengers and merchandise began to run; and the result was that the railway company found it necessary to take the entire charge and working of the traffic. In course of time new coaches were specially built for the better accommodation of the public, until at length regular passenger-trains were run, drawn by the locomotive engine,--though this was not until after the Liverpool and Manchester Company had established this as a distinct branch of their traffic.

[Picture: The No. I. Engine at Darlington]

The three Stephenson locomotives were from the first regularly employed to work the coal trains; and their proved efficiency for this purpose led to the gradual increase of the locomotive power. The speed of the engines--slow though it seems now--was in those days regarded as something marvellous. A race actually came off between No. I. engine, the "Locomotion," and one of the stage-coaches travelling from Darlington to Stockton by the ordinary road; and it was regarded as a great triumph of mechanical skill that the locomotive reached Stockton first, beating the stage-coach by about a hundred yards! The same engine continued in good working order in the year 1846, when it headed the railway procession on the opening of the Middlesborough and Redcar Railway, travelling at the rate of about fourteen miles an hour. This engine, the first that travelled upon the first public railway, has recently been placed upon a pedestal in front of the railway station at Darlington.

For some years, however, the principal haulage of the line was performed by horses. The inclination of the gradients being towards the sea, this was perhaps the cheapest mode of traction, so long as the traffic was not very large. The horse drew the train along the level road, until, on reaching a descending gradient, down which the train ran by its own gravity, the animal was unharnessed, and, when loose, he wheeled round to the other end of the waggons, to which a "dandy-cart" was attached, its bottom being only a few inches from the rail. Bringing his step into unison with the speed of the train, the horse learnt to leap nimbly into his place in this waggon, which was usually fitted with a well-filled hay-rack.

The details of the working were gradually perfected by experience, the projectors of the line being scarcely conscious at first of the importance and significance of the work which they had taken in hand, and little thinking that they were laying the foundations of a system which was yet to revolutionise the internal communications of the world, and confer the greatest blessings on mankind. It is important to note that the commercial results of the enterprise were considered satisfactory from the opening of the railway. Besides conferring a great public benefit upon the inhabitants of the district and throwing open entirely new markets for coal, the profits derived from the traffic created by the railway yielded increasing dividends to those who had risked their capital in the undertaking, and thus held forth an encouragement to the projectors of railways generally, which was not without an important effect in stimulating the projection of similar enterprises in other districts. These results, as displayed in the annual dividends, must have been eminently encouraging to the astute commercial men of Liverpool and Manchester, who were then engaged in the prosecution of their railway. Indeed, the commercial success of the Stockton and Darlington Company may be justly characterised as the turning-point of the railway system.

Before leaving this subject, we cannot avoid alluding to one of its most remarkable and direct results--the creation of the town of Middlesborough-on-Tees. When the railway was opened in 1825, the site of this future metropolis of Cleveland was occupied by one solitary farmhouse and its outbuildings. All round was pasture-land or mud-banks; scarcely another house was within sight. In 1829 some of the principal proprietors of the railway joined in the purchase of about 500 or 600 acres of land five miles below Stockton--the site of the modern Middlesborough--for the purpose of there forming a new seaport for the shipment of coals brought to the Tees by the railway. The line was accordingly extended thither; docks were excavated; a town sprang up; churches, chapels, and schools were built, with a custom-house, mechanics' institute, banks, shipbuilding yards, and iron-factories. In ten years a busy population of some 6000 persons (since increased to about 23,000) occupied the site of the original farmhouse. {144} More recently, the discovery of vast stores of ironstone in the Cleveland Hills, closely adjoining Middlesborough, has tended still more rapidly to augment the population and increase the commercial importance of the place.

It is pleasing to relate, in connexion with this great work--the Stockton and Darlington Railway, projected by Edward Pease and executed by George Stephenson--that when Mr. Stephenson became a prosperous and a celebrated man, he did not forget the friend who had taken him by the hand, and helped him on in his early days. He continued to remember Mr. Pease with gratitude and affection, and that gentleman, to the close of his life, was proud to exhibit a handsome gold watch, received as a gift from his celebrated _protege_, bearing these words;--"Esteem and gratitude: from George Stephenson to Edward Pease."

[Picture: Middlesborough-on-Tees]