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

CHAP. XXIV.] IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LOCOMOTIVES. 281
On the 4th of December, the " Planet " took the first load of
merchandise from Liverpool to Manchester, consisting of 18
wagon-loads of cotton, 200 barrels of flour, 63 sacks of oatmeal,
and 34 sacks of malt. The total load, exclusive of the engine,
was 80 tons, and it was taken to Manchester, in the face of a
strong, adverse wind, in two hours and thirty-nine minutes,
which was considered an exceedingly successful trip. Previous
to this, however, the speed of the " Planet " had been tested in
bringing up a cargo of voters from Manchester to Liverpool, on
the occasion of the contested election there, when she performed
the journey between the two places in sixty minutes.
The next important improvement in the locomotive was made
in the " Samson," which was placed upon the line about the
beginning of 1831. In this engine the plan of coupling the
fore and hind wheels of the engine was adopted; by which
means the adhesion of the wheels on the rails was more ef-
fectually secured, and thus the hauling force of the locomotive
was made more available. This mode of coupling the wheels
was found to be a great improvement, and it has since been
adopted in all engines constructed for drawing heavy loads, where
power is of greater consequence than speed. On the 25th of
February, the " Samson " drew a train of thirty wagons, weigh-
ing 151 tons exclusive of the weight of the tender, between
Liverpool and Manchester, at the rate of about twenty miles an
hour on the level parts of the railway. In this engine the blast,
the tubes, and furnace were so contrived, that the, consumption
of coke was reduced to only about one-third of a pound per ton
per mile.
The rapid progress thus made will show that Mr. Stephen-
son's inventive faculties were kept fuUy on the stretch ; but his
labours were amply repaid by the result. He was, doubtless, to
some extent stimulated by the number of competitors who about
the same time appeared as improvers of the locomotive engine.
Of these the most prominent wer§ the Messrs. Braithwaite and
Ericsson, whose engine, the " Novelty," had excited such high
expectations at the Eainhill competition. The directors of the
railway, desirous of giving all parties a fair chance, ordered from
those makers two engines on the same model ; but their per-