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Railway Evolution/Revolution
in the Victorian Age
Presented
by Ted Constantine
to the Society for Learning in
Retirement, Winter, 2010
Reasons for my Choice of Subject
•
My interest in science, history and politics and
how science influenced the latter two
•
My fascination with mechanical devices,
especially early inventions such as the steam engine which
changed the pace of progress of the industrial revolution
•
Realization that the steam engine when adapted to
locomotion fostered rapid industrialization and development of
almost every country in the world and took place mainly in the
Victorian age
•
My keen interest in all facets of railroading,
especially the era of the steam locomotive.
Machines and the Industrial Revolution
•
When humans emerged from the hunting and gathering age and
entered the age of agriculture, work was done by human or animal
muscle power
•
Later, windmills and waterwheels were developed to increase food
production (pumping water for irrigation, grinding meal etc)
•
Transportation of goods relied on animal or human muscle power
or wind (sailing ships)
•
“Renaissance men” like da Vinci envisaged powering machines by
other means as early as the late fifteenth century
•
It was not until Scotsman James Watt developed the steam engine
in the middle of the 18th century that the industrial
revolution really took hold with stationary steam engines
powering factories, mines and mills
•
Thanks to this history-changing invention Great Britain led the
industrial revolution and the rest of the world followed
•
Coincidentally modern capitalism became entrenched in
parliamentary democracies and republics following the model of
Adam Smith’s treatise on “The Wealth of Nations”
•
Smith was a contemporary of Watt’s at the University of Glasgow.
Adapting Steam to Locomotion
•
Before Watt’s death in 1819, he envisaged
adapting the steam engine to locomotion (carriages and boats)
but figured a mobile engine would be too hard to control
•
In 1814, Scotsmen George Stephenson developed the
first practical steam powered locomotive building upon the
earlier demonstration prototypes of William Hedley and Richard
Trevithick. He foresaw the potential of a self propelled
carriage to replace horses to pull loads
•
Stephenson was a colliery engineer and built his
first locomotive to fit on a rail gauge that was common for
horse drawn trams used in mines
•
This 4 foot 8.5 inch gauge (which became the
railway standard) had been used since Roman mining times and had
come from the wheel spacing on their chariots. So today’s track
spacing is 2 horses wide
•
Parliament authorized charters for a number of
railways in the early 19th century. Stephenson joined
the Stockton and Darlington Railway where he developed the first
locomotive to use steam power on a public railway in 1825. It
was christened “Locomotion”
The
Right Place At The Right Time
•
The success of Stephenson’s locomotive prodded visionaries and
investors to action first in Britain, then in the USA and
eventually throughout the world
•
Many railway companies sprung up and Stephenson moved to the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway just after building the
“Rocket” in 1829 which served as the basic design for all
locomotives to follow using a reciprocating steam powered
cylinder driving a crank connected to a drive wheel
•
At this time in Britain, the merchant class was amassing capital
and parliament was willing to give reign to innovation which
stoked railway development. However the monarchy showed no such
leadership.
•
An obstructionist, William IV known as “silly Billy” was on the
throne having succeeded the spendthrift George IV in 1830
•
Thankfully for history, William’s 18 year old niece Victoria, a
strong supporter of laissez faire economics, succeeded him in
1837
•
Thus began the golden age of railroads in Britain.
•
Stephenson with his son Robert opened their locomotive
manufacturing works. Others followed suit. Design improvements
abounded over time
•
Railways provided the transportation system needed to
efficiently move people and goods thus improving the standard of
living for all Britons.
Railways Spread to America
•
The steam powered railway garnered much interest
in the USA where the small system of canals was insufficient to
satisfy the needs of the new, expanding nation
•
The first locomotives used in the US were made in
Britain by Stephenson and others and were brought to America by
sailing ship
•
Demonstration trials and competitions in 1828/29
led to the best designs being ordered by the railway companies
that had been granted charters by Congress. The two leaders at
this time were the Delaware & Hudson (D&H) and the Baltimore &
Ohio (B&O) railroads. British made locomotives predominated in
early years
•
The utility the of steam powered railway quickly
became obvious. Lines were built westward from Boston, Richmond,
Philadelphia, Charleston and Savannah connecting seaboard
shipping ports to the developing interior. Transcontinental
routes followed
•
American locomotive manufacturing shops sprung up
(e g Baldwin)
•
By 1850, the USA had the largest railway network
in the world.
Railways Spread Abroad
•
European nations picked up on the advantages that
the railway would bring to advance their industrial revolutions
•
France’s first steam powered railroad started in
1832. In 1835, Germany and Belgium followed suit and by 1850, so
had Austria, Ireland, Italy and Holland all adopting
Stephenson’s track gauge which allowed easy inter-country
transportation
•
Starting later than Britain and the USA, European
governments were more involved with planning and setting
priorities for where they wanted their railway companies to
build their lines and provide service
•
True to our character, Canada’s combined the
market drive of the US with some government intervention.
Canada’s Railways Pre-Confederation
•
In 1832,a group of Montreal businessmen called
the Company of Proprietors realized that the railway must come
to Canada and by 1836, they had built Canada’s first railway,
the Champlain & St Lawrence between La Prairie and St Jean
employing Stephenson’s Rocket locomotive design
•
The utility of the railroad was amply
demonstrated and by 1850, forty companies had been granted
charters but only 6 operated lines
•
The main problems in this sparsely populated land
were lack of investors and costly-to-manage physical barriers
such as wide rivers
•
In 1849, the Baldwin-Lafontaine government
introduced a law called the Guarantee Act whereby the government
would guarantee investors their interest on RR company bonds
•
This attracted US and British investors and
resulted in an outburst of railway construction throughout
pre-confederation Canada. The Grand Trunk and the Great Western
RR’s expanded to tie Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes together
with access to the US.
Canada’s Railways Post-Confederation
•
The prairie lands newly acquired from the
Hudson’s Bay Company west of the Great Lakes needed a rail
access to truly join them to the new Dominion. The government
under Sir John A MacDonald foresaw a westward thrust akin to the
US railway push to the Pacific Coast which had to cross the same
types of barriers (e g the Rockies)
•
However, timber and mineral-rich British Columbia
had not yet joined confederation
•
American railroads in the Pacific northwestern
USA were poised to enter BC and haul ore and timber to their
southern markets
•
Sir John A believed that this would eventually
lead to BC joining the US and his government sprang to action to
bring a Canadian rail service to BC which he hoped would give
rise to BC joining Canada. He believed that this should be done
by a private company aided by some cash subsidies and extensive
land grants. Thus was born the Canadian Pacific Railway company
whose principals were Canadian. The result was that BC joined
confederation. After several impasses were solved, CP reached
the coast
•
The story of the CPR which I have written on
previously is truly a typical tale of how Canadians (with the
help of Chinese) do things in time successfully.
Positive Outcomes of Railroads
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RR’s greatly speeded up the industrial revolution
which although in early years resulted in hardships not much
better than the serfdoms it replaced, brought us to today’s more
egalitarian society and higher standard of living
•
RR’s united countries, Canada and the US being
the two foremost examples
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To this day, railroads provide the most efficient
and environmentally friendly and least expensive means of moving
people and goods from place to place across land.
Legacies That Railways Left
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Locomotion. No need to rely on animals for
transportation. Eventually led to the automobile and to freedom
of movement
•
Provided a driver for fledgling capitalism
benefitting customers, investors and governments and spurred on
the industrial revolution
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As railways were built, small towns grew up along
the lines that gave further economic strength and fabric to the
country
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Greatly advanced the technologies of bridge and
tunnel building. Canadian examples are the Victoria bridge in
Montreal, the tunnel under the St Clair River at Sarnia and the
spiral tunnels through the Rocky Mountains in BC
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Brought on the development of the telegraph and
Morse code (used for communication up and down the rail lines)
which in turn prompted Bell to invent the talking telegraph
known as the telephone
•
Brought about the implementation of time zones
for the basis of train schedules as opposed to municipally based
time keeping
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Served as a model for other modes of
transportation to follow.
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