A painting of Sankey Viaduct on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, by Henry Pyall (1795–1833) after Thomas Talbot Bury (1809–1877), as it was in 1831 just a year after opening; it is still in use today. One of the first major railway viaducts ever built, its arches were designed to accommodate the ‘Mersey flats,’ the traditional sailing boats that navigated the Sankey Canal. Although railway bridges and viaducts had been constructed before now, such as Causey Arch for horse-drawn traffic on the Tanfield Railway in County Durham, built in 1726, nothing on this scale had been attempted. Another first was Water Street Bridge near the Manchester terminus in Liverpool Street, which was strengthened with an innovative cast-iron girder.
ANY doubts over Stephenson’s plan to use steam locomotives were crushed by the Rainhill Trials of 1829, when Robert’s Rocket trounced all rivals.* George had masterminded not just a railway, but a template for double-track, locomotive-hauled, standard gauge railways everywhere.*
The opening day, September 15th, 1830, was marred by tragedy. While the VIP train took on water near Newton-le-Willows, William Huskisson MP alighted to stretch his legs. He was chatting to the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, when shouts came, warning that Rocket was bearing down on the neighbouring track. Huskisson caught at a carriage door but it swung back, and he fell beneath Rocket’s wheels.
Nevertheless, the line exceeded all expectations, raking in profits of £71,000 in 1831,* and carrying almost half a million passengers, many of them to Newton Races.* Businessmen began to see the staggering potential of railways, spreading wealth and leisure through society as no well-meaning statesman or hot-headed reformer had ever done. A railway revolution was dawning.*
With acknowledgements to ‘West Coast: The 175th Anniversary Of Britain’s Busiest Steam Line’, by Robin Jones.
See our post The Rainhill Trials.
Stephenson had used a 4ft 8in gauge for his colliery railways in County Durham and Northumberland, dictated by the colliery wagons and the pit ponies that pulled them. The Liverpool and Manchester was the first railway to add an extra half inch to make today’s ‘standard gauge’, 4ft 8½in.
Measuring Worth would suggest that £71,000 in 1831 would be equivalent in terms of income to roughly £6m, or as much as £308m considered as economic power.
Newton-le-Willows racecourse closed in 1898, with racing moving to Haydock Park. The Old Newton Cup, a flat Handicap horse race over 1 mile 3 furlongs and 175 yards, is still held at Haydock every July.
The Railway Revolution, like the Industrial Revolution more generally, was not just a profound technological change. It also did everything political revolutions promise (and never deliver), by raising the standard of living, allowing more leisure, breaking down social barriers and class privilege, creating jobs and putting wealth and property ownership into the hands of common people. It did it all peacefully, and it was all paid for privately out of disposable income.
Précis
Engineer George Stephenson pressed ahead with using steam locomotives for the new railway, after the Rainhill Trials in 1829 justified his confidence. Opening Day on September 15th, 1830 was overshadowed by the accidental death of William Huskisson, a prominent MP, but the line went on to make a handsome profit in its first year as the world’s first intercity railway. (60 / 60 words)
Engineer George Stephenson pressed ahead with using steam locomotives for the new railway, after the Rainhill Trials in 1829 justified his confidence. Opening Day on September 15th, 1830 was overshadowed by the accidental death of William Huskisson, a prominent MP, but the line went on to make a handsome profit in its first year as the world’s first intercity railway.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, despite, may, or, otherwise, whereas, whether.
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Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 His. Plan. Potential.
2 Alight. Reformer. While.
3 Haul. Historic. Market.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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