The
Stockton & Darlington Railroad was
opened on 27th September, 1825. Large crowds
saw George Stephenson at the controls
of the Locomotion as it pulled
36 wagons filled with sacks of coal and flour. The train also included
a purpose built railway passenger coach called the Experiment.
It cost £80 to make and looked very much like a stage coach carriage.
The Experiment seated 18 passengers and as it had no springs
it must have provided an uncomfortable ride.
For the first few years on the Stockton &
Darlington, only the freight wagons were pulled by locomotives.
The passenger coach, Experiment, was drawn by horses. It was
built like an ordinary road coach except that it was double-ended
so that the vehicle did not have to be turned for return journeys.
It was very successful and five other passenger carriages were added
by 1827.
The Locomotion pulling wagons
and the Experiment Carriage.
(1)
Durham County Advertiser (1st October, 1825)
The
hour of ten arrived before all was ready to start. About this time
the locomotive engine, or steam horse, as it was more generally termed,
gave note of preparation. The scene, on the moving of the engine,
sets description at defiance. Astonishment was not confined to the
human species, for the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air
seemed to view with wonder and awe the machine, which now moved onward
at a rate of 10 or 12 mph with a weight of not less than 80 tons attached
to it.
The distance from Brussleton to Stockton is twenty and a half miles,
the entire length from Witton Park Colliery, nearly 25 miles, being,
we believe, the largest railway in the Kingdom. The whole population
of the towns and villages within a few miles of the railway seem to
have turned out, and we believe we speak within the limits of truth,
when we say that not less than 40 or 50,000 persons were assembled
to witness the proceedings of the day.
(2)
John Sykes was one of those who witnessed the opening of the Stockton
to Darlington Railroad.
The
train of carriages was then attached to a locomotive engine, built
by George Stephenson. Six wagons, laden with coals and flour; then
an elegant covered coach, with the committee and other proprietors
of the railway.
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