Leicester and Swannington Railway
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The Leicester and Swannington Railway (L&S) was one of England's first railways, being opened on July 17, 1832 to bring coal from pits in west Leicestershire to Leicester.
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[edit] Overview
The construction of the railway was a pivotal moment in the transport history of East Midlands, which was characterised by fierce rivalry between the coalmasters of Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. Through the latter half of the eighteenth century, the Leicestershire miners, using horses and carts, had been at a disadvantage compared to those in Nottinghamshire, who had access to the Erewash Canal and the Soar Navigation. In 1794 the latter was extended to Leicester. A branch - the Charnwood Forest Canal - opened up the Leicester trade but, in 1799, part of it collapsed, closing it.
In 1828 William Stenson observed the success of the Stockton and Darlington Railway and, with John Ellis, and his son Robert, travelled to see George Stephenson where he was building the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Stephenson visited Leicester on their invitation and agreed to become involved. The first meeting to discuss the line was held at the Bell Inn in Leicester, where subscriptions amounting to £58,250 were raised. The remainder of the £90,000 was raised through Stephenson's financial contacts in Liverpool. The line obtained the Royal Assent in 1830 and the first part opened in 1832.
The line was only the fifth such line to be authorised, opening six years before the London and Birmingham, and required techniques, particularly for the tunnel, that were then virtually untried
[edit] Construction
The engineer for the railway was Robert Stephenson, with the assistance of Thomas Miles, while his father raised much of the capital for the line from friends in Liverpool.
Like many of the early railways, it featured quite heavy earthworks. From a station at West Bridge on the west side of the Fosse Way in Leicester, it headed northwards along the River Soar for about a mile, before passing through the one-mile-long 36 yard tunnel at Glenfield, to the valley of the Rothley. It proceeded about five miles to Desford, then swung north west towards Bagworth. Between there and Bardon Hill was a 1 in 29 self-acting plane to the summit at 565 feet, then the line passed through a cutting at Battleflat reaching Swannington by a further inclined plane of 1 in 17. The track was to be single throughout.
Construction began almost immediately, but soon ran into trouble, particularly with the tunnel. Initial boring had suggested that it would not need a lining. However, it turned out that some 500 yards would be through porous sandstone. During its construction the contractor, Daniel Jowett fell down a working shaft and was killed.
The low power of contemporary steam engines meant that where the gradient was steepest, locomotive haulage gave way to other means. As was common in those days, "There were two inclines on the line: one at Bagworth, rising at 1 in 29 towards Swannington and worked by gravity; and a much steepest though shorter one at the Swannington end, descending at 1 in 17 and worked by stationary engine ..."[1]
The latter was Stephenson-built and was "equipped with a very early example of a piston valve...".
[edit] Operation
The first part of the line opened in July 1832 with a train hauled by Comet, driven by George Stephenson himself, with driver Weatherburn. Its 13 foot high chimney was knocked down by Glenfield Tunnel, due to the track having been packed up too high. It is said that the train stopped so that the passengers could wash thmselves in a brook.
Difficulties remained with the cutting at Battleflat and the remainder of the line to Swannington did not open until 1833.
By the end of 1833, the line was delivering coal from Whitwick, Ibstock and Bagworth collieries far more cheaply than could be done from the Erewash Valley.
The expansion of the coal trade transformed the area, even giving rise to a new town - Coalville. George Stephenson, himself, settled down at Ravenstone, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch and, with his son, opened a colliery at Snibston in 1833. He is commemmorated by the inclusion of the red fleur de lys in the arms of Ashby de la Zouch Rural District Council.
The expansion of the coal trade transformed the area, even giving rise to a new town - Coalville. George Stephenson, himself, settled down at Ravenstone, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch and, with his son, opened a colliery at Snibston in 1833. He was commemmorated by the inclusion of the red fleur de lys in the arms of the former Ashby de la Zouch Rural District Council.
Devastated by the loss of their Leicester trade, the Erewash coalmasters met at the George Inn at Alfreton and decided to build their own line to Leicester , down the Erewash Valley from the Mansfield and Pinxton Railway, a tramway which had been built in 1819. Though not completed along its full length until much later, this was the beginning of the Midland Counties Railway, which in turn, became a founding partner in the Midland Railway.
The usual train consisted of twenty-four wagons of 32 cwt each. The idea that there would be a demand from passengers came a something of a surprise to the directors, but a carriage was hastily built, and very soon the line was carrying around 60 passengers a day and their fares were repaying one per cent of the capital. In time, both first and second class was provided. On payment of the fare at the departure station, each passenger would receive a metal token marked with the destination. This would be given up on arrival and reused. Small four-wheeled wagons and coaches, painted plain blue, comprised the rolling stock.[1}
[edit] Locomotives
Five locomotives were built by Robert Stephenson and Company for the line. The first was Comet, shipped from the works by sea to Hull and thence by canal, its first trip being on the opening day in 1832, when its 13 foot high chimney was knocked down by Glenfield Tunnel. The second engine, Phoenix was delivered in 1832. Both these had four-coupled wheels and were sold in 1836 to work in the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway. The next were Samson and Goliath, delivered in 1833. They were initially four-coupled, but were extremely unstable and a pair of trailing wheels were added. This 0-4-2 formation was also used for Hercules, the next engine to enter service. These were the first six-wheeled goods engines with inside cylinders and, after the flanges were taken off the centre pairs of wheels, were so satisfactory, that Stephenson decided never to build another four-wheeled engine.
[edit] Whistle
On almost its first run, at Thornton crossing, Samson collided with a horse and cart on its way to Leicester Market with a load of butter and eggs. Although the engine had a horn, it clearly was not loud enough, and at the suggestion of Mr. Bagster, the manager, the engines were provided with the first steam whistles.
[edit] 0-6-0 Design
By 1834, traffic had increased to such an extent that more powerful engines were needed and the next to be delivered was Atlas, the first ever six-coupled 0-6-0 inside cylinder design. Although inside cylinders were more difficult to build and maintain, and, in the early days, prone to breakage of the crank axles, the engines were more stable than their outside cylindered counterparts. The design was so successful that it was the basic pattern for many goods engines over the next hundred years. The cramped space between the wheels, was a factor in the choice of a wider gauge in some railways overseas.
So far all the engines had been provided by Stephenson, but the directors decided to try one of Edward Bury's locomotives. Stephenson was, of course, extremely influential in the running of the line, but agreed provided the Bury engine was tested fairly. Accordingly the Liverpool arrived in 1834. An 0-4-0, it proved unequal to the loads hauled by Atlas. The next engine bought for the line was Vulcan, an 0-6-0 by Tayleur and Company. The last two were by the Haigh Foundry, Ajax, 0-4-2 and Hector, 0-6-0. This last engine was so powerful that it became the pattern for engines built for the Manchester and Leeds Railway, the North Midland Railway, the Great Western Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
[edit] Takeover
Coal and quarry traffic made the line profitable, but with increasing competition, various schemes were afoot, and a group of Leicester and Tamworth financiers expressed an interest in buying the line. In August 1845 the directors sold out to the Midland Railway, which lost no time in improving the line.
Safety concerns prevented passenger trains using the Bagworth Incline. The practice was to provide separate trains for each of the level stretches and passengers would walk between them. A deviation was therefore built.
Moreover the intention was to double the line and, rather than widen the Glenfield Tunnel, a deviation was built from Desford to meet the main line south of Leicester London Road station. The old line to West Bridge would remain mainly as a goods line.
The line was also extended westwards to Burton upon Trent, so transforming the isolated venture into a through route.
This left the Swannington Incline as a branch at one end, and the last few miles to the L&S terminal in Leicester as another.
Passenger trains on the stub to Leicester (West Bridge) ended in 1928, although coal traffic continued until 1966. The pits at the Swannington end were worked out by 1875, but the incline found a new lease of life lowering wagons of coal to a new pumping station at the foot that kept the old workings clear of water, so preventing flooding in the newer mines nearby. It closed in 1948, but the winding engine was dismantled and is now at the National Railway Museum at York. The site of the incline now belongs to the Swannington Heritage Trust.
Passenger trains on the line ceased in 1964, but the track is still intact despite the end of coal mining in west Leicestershire in the 1980s. There are sporadic plans to reopen it to passenger traffic.
[edit] References
- ^ The Midland Railway, C Hamilton Ellis, Ian Allan Ltd 1953
- Stevenson.P.S. (Ed), (1989) The Midland Counties Railway, Railway and Canal Historical Society.
- Stretton, C.E., (1896) The Development of the Locomotive: A Popular History 1893-1896 London: Crosby, Lockwood and Company
- Williams, R., (1988) The Midland Railway: A New History, Newton Abbot: David and Charles
- Whishaw, F, (1842) The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland London: John Wheale repub Clinker, C.R. ed (1969) Whishaw's Railways of Great Britain and Ireland Newton Abbot: David and Charles
- Williams, F.S., (1874) The Midland Railway: Its Rise and Progress Derby: Bemrose and Son
