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.

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.'