The
Lancashire Witch was built by Robert
Stephenson in 1828 for the proposed Bolton
& Leigh Railway. The locomotive was a development of the Locomotion
that had been built by George Stephenson
and Timothy Hackworth for the Stockton
& Darlington Railway in 1825. The cylinders were placed on
each side of the boiler that inclined at about forty-five degrees.
The pistons drove the front wheels directly. This made her the first
locomotive with steel springs on all wheels.
The Lancashire Witch had two furnace flue tubes which joined
together at the front into a single chimney. Robert
Stephenson also added nozzles in the firegrate through which air
was pumped by bellows in the tender. Using this method it was possible
to burn coke rather than coal and therefore reduced the amount of
smoke produced. Weighing only seven tons, the Lancashire Witch
could pull a load of 40 tons up an incline of 1 in 440 at 8 mph (13
kph).
Drawing of the Lancashire Witch in 1828
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