Preface...
Timothy Hackworth had for years effectively been left in the sidings in the UK but I was left without an explanation as to how that could be. To get a sense of the pioneering times he lived through required me to look beyond the obvious, to see through the draw of the Stephensons and ‘Rocket’, to explore the setting aside of Hackworth’s essential contribution.
The account in America led me back to the life, times and works of Timothy Hackworth in Shildon. His inventive nature and accomplishments, as he moved the engineering of the early locomotives onto a secure footing, were outstanding. The steps he took, drawing on fifteen years of experience fabricating metal, established and assured the future of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. His influence also reached beyond the workshops, to the heart of the development of the people of the town that was created; their well-being, their education, their accomplishments - the Railway Institute would usher in a new era of education, and his Methodism would underpin his arrangements with his fellow men.
Timothy Hackworth’s story is further celebrated here in an extended Afterword, a reprint of Hackworth’s life, created by the Shildon Committee in ‘Commemoration of the Centenary of his death’, and a separate reprint of Robert Corkins ‘SHILDON – Cradle of the Railways’ as tribute to the Shildon Railway works. Altogether they tell of his life and works, a fitting tribute and celebration of the man, the Stockton and Darlington Railway and Shildon the first railway town.
It does indeed make complete a record of the life of locomotive pioneer Timothy Hackworth: the man who moved the world.
Michael Alan Norman, York 2024
The Adventure in America
Chapter 1 Coming to America
The building on the corner of Baltimore Street and Calvert was not intended to be ignored or overlooked. Five storeys of granite and brickwork were topped by an ornamented mansard roof. Its presence there reflected the substance of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad itself. It stood out from the crowd. Momentarily a man paused by the building, looking up at the colonnaded battlements of the railway company’s head office. Timothy Hackworth Young, to give him the full name by which he had been christened, wondered whether the person who had invited him here could do what he said. Major Joseph G Pangborn had asked him to visit, eager to hear what more could be contributed to honour the inventiveness of a locomotive pioneer. He wondered how much the man really knew of his grandfather, Timothy Hackworth, the engine builder of Shildon. Wondered how this man could do what the Hackworth family, over the years, had found themselves unable.
A letter sent directly from the office of C K Lord, Third Vice President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, was the first contact the Hackworth family had with the railroad company. It had been received by his Aunt Prudence in England – aunty Pru as she was known inside the family. Vice President Charles Lord sought the loan of any significant items or material about Timothy Hackworth still in possession of the family. His letter had been followed all too promptly by further correspondence from Major Pangborn, to which his aunt replied with some caution.
However, Timothy Hackworth Young knew that in America, his adopted country, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stood head and shoulders above any other in promoting the railway. He had been more than happy to accept an invitation from the ‘B&O’ to come to Baltimore. This was the 1890s. Railways were big business. Their plan was to put on the biggest railroad exhibition the world had ever seen.
The Columbian Exposition was going to be used to celebrate the birth of the railway, the marvels of the locomotives and the pioneers who overcame formidable challenges to forge a new era of transport. The B&O intended to show the world how this modern magic carpet was unleashed, set free and shaped by truly exceptional men. He was here because they wanted to talk over how they could best make a showing of the work of Timothy Hackworth. Make him, too, stand out from the crowd. That idea stoked his imagination, and he had thrown Aunt Pru’s caution to the winds.
He continued to look up at the heights of the building as he briefly tapped his jacket pocket. Major Pangborn’s letter of invitation was safely there. Reassured, he dropped his gaze to the building’s entrance and back to earth. Timothy Hackworth Young walked into the head office of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company and made himself known, never for a minute realising how significantly it would change the direction of his life.
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Pangborn had all the details (of the Rainhill Trials) at his finger tips. There were reports aplenty for him to draw on: the newspapers at the time, the journals and a report made by the respected B&O engineer, Winans, on his return to Baltimore.
‘Your grandfather’s locomotive Sans Pareil had a faulty cylinder, blew up and could not complete enough trips running backwards and forwards on the track. The other contender, Novelty, failed at first attempt. Failed again after being repaired. Stephenson and Rocket were left as the only contenders to complete the trial and meet the requirements.’
Pangborn settled back into the arms of his chair. Time for this Hackworth family member to be told the truth.
‘Except, Sans Pareil had Rocket beaten for speed – and that was with having to haul a heavier load – and the much lighter Novelty looked as though it would have done too. So not much of a trial really.’
He paused for effect.
‘The real decider about whether the locomotive was a commercially viable proposition had already taken place at Darlington with your grandfather’s ‘Royal George’ – now that was a gamechanger and a watershed event.
Pangborn closed the ‘Rainhill’ folder and, as if to make his point, first slapped it shut with his hand, then he moved it away to one side of his desk.
‘And the locomotive that the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened with was not Rocket but a virtual redesign - which crucially then included one of your grandfather’s inventions – and that was what was needed for a version of Rocket to be made powerful enough to operate in the conditions of the actual railroad. The whole Rainhill trial turned out to be no more than a George Stephenson benefit match.’
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CONTENTS - including reprints as Appendices
Ch 1 Coming to America – Timothy Hackworth Young goes to Baltimore
Ch 2 Getting drawn in deeper – On familiar ground again
Ch 3 Visit to a cousin – Samuel Holmes in New York
Ch 4 Letters from an Aunt – Family recollections about her father
Ch 5 Welcome to the Exposition – A new role for a railwayman
Ch 6 Inventors and inventions – Five pioneers on display
Ch 7 Blast pipe story – Argument and controversy
Ch 8 In at the Start… Early days at the Exposition
Ch 9 Letters from afar… More from a cousin and an aunt
Ch10 Something had to give – Progress and disaster for George Stephenson
Ch11 Building Railways - Promises, promises
Ch12 Trials and tribulations – Doubts at Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Ch13 It started with ‘Royal George’ – Hackworth’s inventive solutions
Ch14 Taking on the challenge – ‘Rocket’ had to win at the Rainhill trial
Ch15 Losers and losses – ‘Sans Pareil’ and ‘Novelty’ show their true colours
Ch16 Deliver the goods – Struggles to overcome the inclines
Ch17 Where will it end? – Locomotive design turns full circle
Ch18 A time of reckoning – Working the line at Liverpool and at Darlington
Ch19 All about two pioneers – making a success of the locomotive
Ch20 For all the world to see – Bringing it all together for display
Ch21 All good things come to an end - Visitor success and future plans
Ch22 Epilogue - A death in the family
Afterword
Bibliography
Glossary of Characters
APPENDIX A. [42pages]
Souvenir in Commemoration of the Centenary of his death, July 7th, 1850
Foreword
Chapter One and Two
Father of the Locomotive - life of Hackworth;
Time at S&DR - Inclines, drums and dogs.
Chapter Three
Royal George; Worship; Hackworth's Inventions; Some Railway History
Chapter Four
Shildon Railway Institute; First Trip; Shildon Works; General Description;
Post-War development; Weekly output; British Railway Queen;
TIMOTHY HACKWORTH Centenary Commemoration
APPENDIX B. [46pages]
Shildon Cradle of the Railways
Father of Railways - verse
Opening of the line; Hackworth's locomotives; Hackworth's life; Tough and
aggressive people; History in a bottle; Railway Institute and Speeches; Shildon
tunnel; Shildon Works; Rules & Regulations; Accidents; General Events.
Images: Coat of Arms - North British Railway;Coat of Arms - North Eastern
Railway; Brusselton Old Engine Shed; Shildon Railway Tunnel; Railwaymen and
wives - 1911 Rail Strike; Three Shildon NER men; Royal George; Railway Works -
Forge; Diary item; Brusselton Railway Cottages; Guarding the bridge - Railway
Strike; Congregational Church - Chapel Street; Brass tablet - Shildon's Railway
Offices; Carriage-shed and station combined; Workmen of Shildon's forge; 1905
Brake van; First Railway clock; Locomotive built by Hackworth 1837 for South
Hetton Colliery; Timothy Hackworth's grave; Hunting for coal in the 1911 strike;
OLD AND NEW - Sanspareil and Deltic.
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Copyright © Mike Norman October 2024