The Coming of the Railways

The Coming of the RailwaysIn this unit you will learn:

• Why railways were developed

• The Building of the Liverpool Manchester Line

• The Opposition to Railways

• The Changing Technology of the Railways: Comfort, Convenience, Safety

• Government Regulation of the Railways

• The Social and Economic Effects of the Railways

• The Decline of the Railway after World War 1

Why were Railways Built?

Reasons for investing

in railwaysUsing canalswas expensive

Canals wereslow and went

by indirect routes

More trade and industry

Toll roadswere

expensive

Toll roads werealso slow

Canals: Problems

Tunnels, Locks and aqueducts were all expensive to build. Canals had to avoid hilly ground. This meant longer and so slower routes. They were also expensive to build and maintain so charges were high.

Toll Roads or Turnpike TrustsA Turnpike Trust was created by an Act of Parliament and gave a group of investors the right to charge travellers for the use of a road (turnpike) in return for maintaining that road.

This picture shows a stagecoach changing horses. Journeys were slow, bumpy and expensive. Heavy cart loads needed many horses.

Toll Roads or Turnpike Trusts

The Toll House at Barnhill near Perth is typical of the thousands in Britain. The problem for travellers and especially businessmen is that the tolls charged went up too often

The Liverpool Manchester Line

The businessmen of Liverpool and Manchester resented the increasing charges for canal and road use. The Stockton Darlington railway using steam engines was already operating to carry coal. Liverpool was Manchester’s port for importing cotton for its mills and for exports of cloth. A direct, faster and cheaper, form of transport would help business.

Liverpool Manchester

Spun and woven cottonexported

Raw cotton imported

Cheap, fast transportPort Factory town

Chat Moss: Crossing a Bog

The engineer in charge, George Stephenson, faced many challenges. Chat Moss is still a peat bog. His solution was to lay logs and brush wood beneath the stone for the track to float the line across. This was done much later and on a bigger scale crossing Rannoch Moor.

Sankey Viaduct

The line had to be carried over a canal so a bridge or viaduct had to be built. Countless such viaducts had to be built as the network was created. The second picture is of the Glenfinnan viaduct famous in the Harry Potter films. It was also another advance in technology as it was made with concrete not stone.

Cutting Through Rock: Olive Mount

Viaducts and cuttings kept the gradient or level of the line as flat as possible. Sometimes explosives had to be used. The black gunpowder was unstable and dangerous especially in the hands of navvies tired from working long hours and with no safety procedures, and sometimes drunk.

Barrow Runs

Millions of tons of earth and rock were shifted to make the cuttings with dangerous barrow runs to get out the waste.

Navvy Gangs

Gangs of hundreds of navvies were employed to build the railways. All that was required was strength and the ability to work hard. They had an evil reputation for fighting and drinking and terrified the locals but their work created the railway network.

Tunnelling

A tunnel was dug from Liverpool docks up to Lime Street station. Many were dug in later years. Again it was dangerous work with the use of explosives and the frequent collapses of the tunnel roof. Tunnels under the big rivers were especially dangerous.

Building Stations

Railway stations had to be grand using elaborate styles. Eventually as in Paddington on the left the use of iron glass to create well lit areas become standard along with the building of platforms to keep passengers safely away from the trains.

Locomotives

Developing the Network

Miles of Railway Line

1830 69

1840 1857

1850 6621

1860 10,433

1870 15,557

Miles of Railway line

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

1830 1840 1850 1860 1870

Date

This rather complicated map shows:

• the way in which the Scottish network developed

• that most lines were built in the industrial Central Lowlands

• Links to Aberdeen and the Highlands developed later

The Scottish Railway Network

Opposition to Railways

Canal Companies

Stagecoach companies

Some landowners and farmers

Doctors

Some Politicians

Lost money

Lost money

Land divided, believed animals would be frightened, hens stop laying, cows might abort, not give milk.

People would suffocate in tunnels

Working classes could organise nationally

Developing the Network

Technology Law

Comfort Safety Convenience

Faster, more reliable trains

Bridges across the estuaries

Better brakes and signalling

Corridors, heating, lights, toilets, restaurant cars, sleepers

Railway Act

Gauge Act

Further safety laws

How did railways improve between 1830 and 1930?

Convenience and Safety: The Law

•The Railway Act 1844 insisted that more trains be run to carry poor people to help them hunt for jobs.

•Gauge Act 1846 set a single gauge for all railway lines as previously different gauge meant the inconvenience of passengers having to change from one train to another.

•Later Acts set national standards for safety backed up by government inspection

Convenience: Shorter, Faster Journeys

This is the Forth Rail bridge.

The other great estuary bridge in Scotland is the Tay Bridge, made famous by its collapse in a hurricane in 1879.

Convenience: Shorter, Faster Journeys

By the early 1900s locomotives like the one above built in Glasgow could travel at close 100mph, and on inter-city journeys averaged 80 mph

Safety: Accidents

In the early days train accidents were common. The early signal box shown above played an important role in reducing accidents. The mysterious device on the left was for testing the strength of rails which tended to crack.

Safety: Signalling

Hand lamps with different coloured lenses were waved to warn drivers of hazards. Eventually there were mechanical signals on gantries initially lit with oil lamps and later with electricity.

Safety: TelegraphThe electric telegraph transmitted messages in Morse code. It was first used as a safety device with the railways as signaling stations could be warned of train movements. Later it was used for the new and personal and business messages.

Safety: Whistles Since the 1840s, all steam locomotives have

been fitted with whistles, which at first were called 'steam trumpets'. Whistles are used to sound a warning, when a locomotive is about to move, and to tell people that a train is approaching - for example, where a footpath crosses the line. They are also used for communications. On 'unfitted' goods trains (those without automatic brakes on the wagons), pre-arranged whistle codes would tell the Guard when to put on the brake in his brake van. In an emergency, for example if a locomotive's brakes have failed or its main steam valve has stuck open, drivers can use the whistle to alert a signalman to the situation.

Safety: Level Crossings with Gates

This is a modern crossing. Earlier ones had gates that had to be opened and closed by those wishing to cross but they led to accidents as people failed to estimate the speed of the trains.

Safety: Brakes

Some trains were provided with brakes only on the locomotive and on the brake van, located at the opposite ends of the train. The guard (called a "Brakesman") had to have a good Knowledge of the route, and was expected to apply the brake when required to regulate the speed of the train

A Brake van

A Brake Carriage

Safety: Continuous Brakes

By the second half of the 19th century many trains had a continuous braking system which meant that when the driver applied the brake, all the carriages slowed down as all had a braking system.. This was much safer.

Comfort

This candle-powered lamp dates from the 19th century.

This advert for a railway carriage emphasises its comfort and safety with electric light, good suspension and a continuous brake.

Comfort

Sleeping compartment for overnight long distance trains.

Carriage with a corridor and hence a toilet!

Comfort: the Dining Car

A first class dining car in about 1903. Railway companies competed on quality especially on the long distance routes.

How did railways change life in Britain?

Social Effects Economic Effects

Changing how people lived Changing trade, industry, jobs

Travelling to work – commutingDay tripsHolidays

National news and postal service Fresh food – fish, milk, vegetables

Sport and Leisure

Expansion of the coal, iron and

steel industriesJobs on the railway

Growth of railway engineeringBenefits to farming and fishingGrowth of the tourist industry

Social Effects: Commuting

Railway companies encouraged builders to create housing estates on railway routes into towns and cities as it provided more passengers who would commute, travel to work daily

Social Effects: A Day Out

The seaside trip or a day in the country meant that became possible for poor people to get away from the smoke and crowds of the city.

Social Effects of the Railway: Holidays

For those a bit better off a proper holiday was possible. The railway hotel was built in the style of the North British now the Balmoral in Edinburgh.

Social Effects: National News

The photograph of newspapers at a London station helps show how important railways were in spreading national and international news. They start the world we are used to with 24 hour coverage of events around the world.

Social Effects: Letters and Parcels

national news papers printed in London/Glasgow/Edinburgh/Manchester could be distributed in time for the next day.Reduces Local differences

Night Mail

Social Effects: Fresh Food

Milk trains meant healthier children. The abandoned tracks at Aberdeen harbour show how fresh fish was brought South. The raspberry train brought the fresh crop from Perthshire.

Social Effects: Entertainment

In the 1890s a famous American circus travelled round Scotland by train. In addition the railway companies laid on special trains to the places they put on a show. It included American Indians with the famous Indian fighter Buffalo Bill.

Indians posing on the rocks at Fraserburgh

Social Effects: Sport

This faded poster advertises special supporters’ trains to Wembley. Such trains for club as well as international matches allowed the creation of the professional League game as there could be lots of supporters able to travel easily in a day.

How did railways change life in Britain?

Social Effects Economic Effects

Changing how people lived Changing trade, industry, jobs

Travelling to work – commutingDay tripsHolidays

National news and postal service Fresh food – fish, milk, vegetables

Sport and Leisure

Expansion of the coal, iron and

steel industriesJobs on the railway

Growth of railway engineeringBenefits to farming and fishingGrowth of the tourist industry

Economic Effects: Helping Industry

Many industries benefited from the railway. Raw materials and finished products could easily be transported. Factories had their own lines linking to the network. Railway companies, as in the advert encouraged the building of factories next to their lines as it created more business. Coal as in the photo above was crucial.

Economic Effects: Jobs on the Railway

A small station at Grangemouth employed 8 staff as station master, ticket sales staff and porters.

Railway maintenance was constant to keep the network safe. Trains needed drivers, stokers, guards, conductors, restaurant staff

Economic Effects: Locomotive Engineering

This is a boiler for a locomotive being riveted in a Glasgow engineering factory. It required highly skilled engineers for which Scotland became famous. All railway engineering required vast amounts of metal so those industries grew as well.

Economic Effects: Locomotive Engineering

Railway repair and construction yards provided lots of jobs. The left hand picture show a repair yard, the right the locomotive and carriage cleaning yards near Glasgow.

Economic Effects: Exports

There are 8 steam locomotives on this ship being taken from Glasgow to Egypt.

How did railways change life in Britain?

Social Effects Economic Effects

Changing how people lived Changing trade, industry, jobs

Travelling to work – commutingDay tripsHolidays

National news and postal service Fresh food – fish, milk, vegetables

Sport and Leisure

Expansion of the coal, iron and

steel industriesJobs on the railway

Growth of railway engineeringBenefits to farming and fishingGrowth of the tourist industry