Novelty Steam Engine

 The great lightness of this engine, (it is about one half lighter than Mr. Stephenson’s) its compactness, and its beautiful workmanship, excited universal admiration; a sentiment speedily changed into perfect wonder, by its truly marvellous performances.  It was resolved to try first its speed merely; that is at what rate it would go, carrying only its compliment of cote and water, with Messrs Braithwaite and Erickson to manage it.  Almost at once, it darted off at the amazing velocity of twenty-eight miles an hour...

Mechanics Magazine, Vol. 12 (1830).

 

The Novelty locomotive was built by John Braithwaite and John Erickson at Braithwaite’s workshop in London specifically to be entered in the Rainhill Trials for the new Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1829. Unfortunately, they only had seven weeks notice of the trails in which to built their engine. While the Novelty was admired for its speed, engineering and workmanship, it suffered several breakdowns during the trials and never completed the competition.

#Novelty #steam #engine #Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railway #Blender #Cycles33

Catch Me Who Can

Seven years ago Susan and I visited the Welsh National Museum in Swansea to see the full-sized, operating replica of Richard Trevithick’s 1804 steam locomotive, the first steam engine to run on rails. I took a lot of photos of the engine and built a model in Blender. This summer I discovered that Trevithick had designed another locomotive in 1808 named Catch Me Who Can. This engine pulled a couple of carriages for passengers who paid one shilling to ride the train on a circular track in London. It was a popular attraction until there were two derailments due track failure. The collapse of the project contributed to Trevithick’s eventual bankruptcy.

 The locomotive was built at the Rastrick and Hazledine foundry in Bridgnorth, England. Today a restoration of the original loco can be seen at the Bridgnorth station of the Sever Valley Railway.

#Catch_Me-Who_Can #steam #locomotive #Trevithick #Severn_Valley_Railway #Blender #Cycles