An old engraving of John Blenkinsop’s locomotive of 1811. John Blenkinsop (1783–1831) was an English mining engineer and an inventor of steam locomotives, who designed the first practical railway locomotive. In the early nineteenth century, attempts were being made to employ steam power for haulage. In 1811 Blenkinsop patented a rack and pinion system at the side of the track for a locomotive. His engine, weighing five tons, regularly hauled a payload of ninety tons of coal over three miles from the Middleton Colliery, Middletown to Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK.
An old engraving of John Blenkinsop’s locomotive of 1811. It is from a Victorian mechanical engineering book of the 1880s. John Blenkinsop (1783–1831) was an English mining engineer and an inventor of steam locomotives, who designed the first practical railway locomotive. In the early nineteenth century, attempts were being made to employ steam power for haulage. Richard Trevithick had experimented with various models of steam locomotive, and in 1805 he made an engine for the Wylam Colliery. The cast-iron plated wood rails were unable to take the engine's heavy weight and the initial attempt to convert to steam was abandoned. In 1811 Blenkinsop patented a rack and pinion system at the side of the track for a locomotive which was designed and built by Matthew Murray of Fenton, Murray and Wood in Holbeck. His engine, weighing five tons, regularly hauled a payload of ninety tons of coal over three miles from the Middleton Colliery, Middletown to Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK.
Size: 3307px × 3212px
Location: Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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