The life of George Stephenson, railway engineer - Lighthouse ...

184 LIFE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON. [chap. xvn.
cast-iron. The malleable rails were required by the specifi-
cation to be " made from scraps or good English bars re-
manufactured." They were also of the kind called "fish-
bellied," after Birkenshaw's patent, and weighed only 281bs. to
the yard, being 2^ inches broad at the top, with the upper
flange f inch thick. They were only 2 inches in depth at the
points at which they rested on the rails, and 3J inches in the
middle or bellied part.
When forming the road, the proper gauge had also to be
determined. What width was this to be ? The gauge of the
first tramroad laid down had virtually settled the point. The
gauge of wheels of the common vehicles of the country—of the
carts and wagons employed on common roads, which were first
used on the tramroads—was 4 feet 8^ inches. And so the
first tramroads were laid down of this gauge. The tools and
machinery for constructing coal-wagons and locomotives were
formed with this gauge in view. The Wylam wagon-way,
afterwards the Wylam plate-way, the Killingworth railroad, and
the Hetton railroad, were all laid down on this gauge. Some
of the earth-wagons used to form the Stockton and Darlington
road were brought from the Hetton railway ; and others which
were specially constructed were formed of the same dimensions,
these being intended afterwards to be employed in the working
of the traffic.
As the time for the opening of the line approached, the ques-
tion of the Tractive Power to be employed was warmly dis-
cussed. At the Brusselton incline, fixed engines must necessarily
be made use of; and the designs for these were completed by
Eobert Stephenson in 1824, previous to his departure for Col-
umbia, in' South America. With respect to the mode of work-
ing the railway generally, it was decided that horses were to be
largely employed, and arrangements were made for their pur-
chase. The influence of Mr. Pease also secured that a fair
trial should be given to the experiment of working the traffic by
locomotive power ; and three engines were ordered from the
firm of George Stephenson and Company, at Newcastle, and
were accordingly put in hand forthwith, in anticipation of the
opening of the railway. These were constructed after Mr.