“It cannot turn very fast only slow
It runs straight no other go!
But the sound is so rhythmic and nice!
Going in a train is a pleasant surprise!”
You would think that the first railway would be one of the most successful event which made it popular?
It became popular of course but it was because the MP who had come for the inauguration came under the wheels of the first train!
intrigued or/and shocked!?
read on!
So The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the first inter-city railway in the world!
It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England.
It had many first! It was also the first railway to rely exclusively on locomotives driven by steam power, with no horse-drawn traffic permitted at any time; the first to be entirely double track throughout its length; the first to have a true signalling system; the first to be fully timetabled; and the first to carry mail!
However in spite of all that first; the causality which claimed the MP was not the first rail fatality! That was nine years back!
On December 5, 1821, a carpenter, David Brook, was walking home from Leeds, England, along the Middleton Railway in a blinding sleet storm. He failed to see or hear an approaching train of coal wagons drawn by one of the Blenkinsop/Murray engines and was fatally injured! This is mentioned in the Guiness as the world’s first rail fatality!
Now coming to the poor MP!
At the time, the only means of bulk transport between the two towns other than animal-drawn carts was water transport on the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, the Bridgewater Canal and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, all of which were slow and expensive to use; transporting raw cotton the 35 miles (56 km) from Liverpool to Manchester was as expensive as the initial cost of shipping it from America to Liverpool.
Now although horse and human powered railways had existed for centuries, and steam power was beginning to be used in some experimental industrial railways, the L&M was to be the first steam powered railway to provide an inter-city passenger service, and the most expensive engineering project yet undertaken in Britain!
So in 1830, the first passenger railway opened between Liverpool and M chester. Building this marvel of engineering had required an act of Parliament!
The route needed bridges, cut-throughs, elevated sections over boggy ground, and settling of seemingly endless property disputes!
The railways’ opening was attended by dignitaries including the prime minister and Liverpool’s MP, William Huskisson!
During the celebration the crowd stood on the tracks to welcome the new marvel as it approached.
So unfamiliar was this striking machine that people failed to appreciate the speed of the oncoming train! But still others were young and less clumsy to say the least but the poor MP did not have this luck!
A shout went up, “An engine is approaching. Take care, gentlemen!”
The other disembarked passengers either climbed back into their seats, or stepped over the northern line and completely out of the way.
A third option was available, to stand with one’s back to the stationary coaches, as there was a four-foot gap between the lines, and even though the Duke’s private carriage was wider than a then-standard carriage, it would have still been possible to stand between the stationary train and the travelling train and remain safe!
However, what unfolded was a calamitous series of events. Huskisson was known to be clumsy, and had endured a long list of problems from his regular trips and falls; he had twice broken his arm and never fully recovered the use of it. Added to this, he was only a few weeks post surgery and was present against his doctor’s advice! (take this as the golden rule to always follow your doctor’s advice!)
On realising his danger, he panicked and made two attempts to cross the other line, but changed his mind and returned to the Duke’s carriage!
However, the carriage door had not been latched, and so it slowly swung open, leaving him hanging directly in the path of the oncoming locomotive, which hit the door, throwing Huskisson onto the tracks in front of the train! His leg was horrifically mangled by the locomotive.
He died later that day which made it to the newspaper! This news is what made the otherwise lesser known event much more popular!
Even though the train was described as a monstrous alien, belching smoke and a terrifying blur of modernity and machinery; it also made everyone curious!
Yet it was also a sensation, faster than anything ever experienced before!
The growth was rapid. It was initially predicted that over 200 a day may use the locomotive in spite of the track attack! But twelve hundred a day were using it after only a month! Not to mention many tons of cotton which could be hauled from the Liverpool docks to Manchester mills with minimum fuss in record time! Of course the role of the railway in the development of the country and later on the whole world cannot be overstated! Just make sure that you do not attend the inauguration ceremony and always stay away from the tracks! Or maybe ask someone to Guide you! Guide reminds me of the evergreen birthday celebrity Dev Anand!
Now listen to some old Dev Saab song and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!
ramadocblog 