Volume Twelve - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - further aspects - The River Ely Iron Ore Wharf . . .

The failure of cast-iron rails under load which was problematic at the 1804 Penydarren innovation was partially overcome up north at Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire, by John Blenkinsop (1783-1831) and Mathew Murray (1765-1826) who designed a lighter engine. In order to grip the track on inclines a rack and pinion drive system was designed which first ran on the Middleton Railway, Leeds, during June 1812, however, the very first locomotive exploded in 1818 after its driver had tampered with its safety valve!

13 years later we progress to Stephenson's, 'Locomotion' of 1825, then another 5 years later, 'Rocket', both of which are generally considered to be more important events than Trevithick's (1804) or Blenkinsop's (1812) wonderful achievements. James Watt (1736-1819) stated that Trevithick should have been hanged for bringing into use the high-pressure steam engine! The significance of Penydarren and Trevithick's 'Welsh Dragon' seems to have been lost in time! A report in the Evening Express [135] [361] on the 2nd March 1904 stated:  It is said this locomotive had a brick chimney and a fly-wheel nearly ten feet in diameter! The present principle of steam-draught had not been thought of, so the fire was kept bright by means of a pair of bellows! What a glorious relic this would be thought to-day. Alas, after a time, the boiler burst, and the engine, without warning, joined the immortals.

Trevithick's 'Welsh Dragon' - The working replica (or a best guess at the original design!) of Richard Trevithick's Penydarren locomotive as displayed at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea - the photograph taken by myself in March 2019. [001] The engine worked using 'strong steam' i.e. high pressure steam at c.145 lbs. per square inch and the danger of explosion was great! Boulton & Watt 'had strained every nerve to get a Bill in the House to stop these engines, saying the lives of the public were endangered by them.'