South Devon Railway engine houses
Encyclopedia
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to power the atmospheric trains
Atmospheric railway
An atmospheric railway uses air pressure to provide power for propulsion. In one plan a pneumatic tube is laid between the rails, with a piston running in it suspended from the train through a sealable slot in the top of the tube. Alternatively, the whole tunnel may be the pneumatic tube with the...
on the South Devon Railway
South Devon Railway Company
The South Devon Railway Company built and operated the railway from Exeter to Plymouth and Torquay in Devon, England. It was a broad gauge railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel-Chronology:* 1844 South Devon Railway Act passed by parliament...
between Exeter St Davids
Exeter St Davids railway station
Exeter St Davids station is the most important of seven National Rail stations in the city of Exeter in southwest England. Today the station is owned by Network Rail and operated by First Great Western.-History:...
and Plymouth Millbay railway station
Plymouth Millbay railway station
Plymouth Millbay railway station was the original railway terminus in Plymouth, Devon, England. It was used for passenger trains from 1849 to 1941.- History :...
s. They contained boilers that provided the power to pumps that created the vacuum to move the trains. Three of them still stand largely intact alongside the line.
History
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The South Devon Railway was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
who proposed to move the trains by atmospheric power. Brunel and other engineers travelled to Dalkey
Dalkey
Dalkey is suburb of Dublin and seaside resort in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became an important port during the Middle Ages. According to John Clyn, it was one of the ports through which the plague entered Ireland in the mid-14th century...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1843 to view such a system undergoing tests on the Dublin and Kingstown Railway
Dublin and Kingstown Railway
The Dublin and Kingstown Railway , which opened in 1834, was Ireland’s first railway. It linked Westland Row in Dublin with Kingstown Harbour’s West Pier in County Dublin.-History:...
. There, Brunel's engineer of locomotives for the GWR, Daniel Gooch
Daniel Gooch
Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet was an English railway and transatlantic cable engineer and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1885...
, calculated that conventional locomotives could work the proposed line at lower cost, but Brunel's concerns about the heavy grades led him to try the system regardless. The South Devon Railway directors agreed on 28 August 1844 to Brunel's proposal to use atmospheric power on their line. Brunel estimated that by reducing the double track locomotive worked line to a single track atmospheric line a saving of £8,000 per year could be made. Double track lines were favoured at that time even for lightly worked lines as this reduced the chances of a collision between trains, but the atmospheric system precludes the possibility of two trains travelling in opposite directions on the same section of track.
The pipes were ordered from George Hennet
George Hennet
George Hennet was a railway engineer and contractor. He undertook many contracts for Isambard Kingdom Brunel's broad gauge railways in the South West of England and funded the provision of extra facilities on the South Devon Railway, these formed the basis of a general trading business that he...
, an engineering contractor who worked on many of Brunel's lines. He established a factory at Bridgwater
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is the administrative centre of the Sedgemoor district, and a major industrial centre. Bridgwater is located on the major communication routes through South West England...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, to make them.
The line opened with conventional steam locomotives to Teignmmouth
Teignmouth railway station
Teignmouth railway station is on the Exeter to Plymouth line and serves the town of Teignmouth, Devon, England. It is operated by First Great Western.-History:...
on 30 May 1846 and was extended to Newton
Newton Abbot railway station
Newton Abbot railway station serves the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. It is from London on the Exeter to Plymouth line via the Reading to Taunton line, at the junction for the branch to . For many years it was also the junction for Moretonhampstead and the site of a large locomotive...
on 30 December 1846. The first piston carriage (which connected the train to the pipe) was delivered on 25 February 1847 and experimental running with atmospheric power started immediately. Public services were run to Teignmmouth from 13 September 1847 and extended to Newton from 10 January 1848. At this time some trains were still worked by locomotives, but from 23 February 1848 all scheduled trains were powered by the atmospheric system.
The leather valve along the top of the pipe tended to dry out and air could then leak in, but this was mitigated slightly by the passing trains spraying water on the leather. The harsh environment of the line, which runs adjacent to the sea for much of its length and is often soaked with salt spray, presented difficulties in maintaining the leather flaps provided to seal the vacuum pipes, which had to be kept supple by being greased
Grease (lubricant)
The term grease is used to describe semisolid lubricants. Although the word grease is also used to describe rendered fat of animals, in the context of lubrication, grease typically applies to a material consisting of a soap emulsified with mineral or vegetable oil...
with tallow
Tallow
Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration to prevent decomposition, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation.In industry,...
; even so, air leaked in, destroying the vacuum.
Many trains arrived at Exeter from the Bristol and Exeter Railway
Bristol and Exeter Railway
The Bristol & Exeter Railway was a railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter.The company's head office was situated outside their Bristol station...
very late. Because the South Devon line was only equipped with a telegraph
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
that linked the stations, the engines had to start pumping for when the timetable said that the trains were due to enter their section and then keep pumping until the train eventually passed. This meant that the engines pumped for twice as long as was necessary and meant that much more coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
was consumed than would have been the case if pumping had only been undertaken when the train was actually ready to be run. The engine houses were connected to the telegraph system on 2 August 1848 but a lack of trained staff meant that it was not fully used.
The railway company had set up a committee to investigate the efficiency of atmospheric working on 23 May 1848. In August Brunel gave a lengthy report on the system, and discussions with Joseph Samuda were held with a view to making repairs to the valve and guaranteeing its operation. On 29 August 1848 the directors, following Brunel's advice, recommended to the shareholders the suspension of atmospheric working. Atmospheric-powered service thus lasted less than a year, to 9 September 1848; the last engine pumping was at Exeter where an up goods train arrived in the early hours of 10 September. The engines and buildings were sold to other users, and most of the pipes were sold back to George Hennet for scrap. The atmospheric had cost the railway over £433,000 and about £81,000 was raised from the sales of redundant materials.
Despite the building of engine houses on towards Plymouth and on the Torquay
Torre railway station
Torre station is a suburban station on the Riviera Line in Torquay, Devon, England. The station is operated by First Great Western but is not staffed; except for one evening train it is only served by local services.-History:...
branch the system never expanded beyond Newton. Similarly, the proposal to use the same system on Brunel's Cornwall Railway
Cornwall Railway
The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The section from Plymouth to Truro opened in 1859, the extension to Falmouth in 1863...
between Plymouth, Falmouth
Falmouth Docks railway station
Falmouth Docks station in Falmouth, Cornwall is the terminus of the Maritime Line to Truro, the services are operated by First Great Western.-History:...
and Padstow
Padstow
Padstow is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately five miles northwest of Wadebridge, ten miles northwest of Bodmin and ten miles northeast of Newquay...
was not pursued.
Three of the engine houses (Starcross, Torquay and Totnes) are still standing and the location of two others (Turf and Dawlish) are clearly visible. A section of the pipe, without the leather covers, is preserved at Didcot Railway Centre
Didcot Railway Centre
Didcot Railway Centre, located in the town of Didcot in the English county of Oxfordshire, is based around the site of a comprehensive "engine shed" which became redundant after the nationalisation of the UK railways, due to the gradual changeover from steam to diesel motive power.-Description:The...
mounted on a short section of track which is inclined to show the gradient of the line from Newton to Dainton.
Technical details
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
ed by the Samuda Brothers
Samuda Brothers
Samuda Brothers was an engineering and ship building firm at Cubitt Town on the Isle of Dogs in London, founded by Jacob and Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda. The site is now occupied by Samuda Estate....
. The pipe was laid in 10 feet (3 m) sections between the broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
rails with a continuous slot along the top that was sealed by a leather valve.
The buildings that housed the boilers and engines were built in a decorative Italianate style with square chimneys and spaced at around 3 miles (4.8 km) intervals. They were provided with engines from a variety of manufacturers including Boulton and Watt
Boulton and Watt
The firm of Boulton & Watt was initially a partnership between Matthew Boulton and James Watt.-The engine partnership:The partnership was formed in 1775 to exploit Watt's patent for a steam engine with a separate condenser. This made much more efficient use of its fuel than the older Newcomen engine...
. The engine that pumped each section was the one towards which the train was travelling, for example a train leaving Exeter was powered by the Countess Wear engine creating a vacuum in the pipe in front of the train which was then propelled forward by the normal atmospheric pressure in the pipe behind the train's piston. Pumping started up to eight minutes before the scheduled departure of the train so as to build up a sufficient vacuum.
At stations a smaller pipe was laid alongside the track and a piston in this was connected to the train by a rope to start it moving. On arrival at the next station it was down to the driver to bring the train to a stand using its brakes. Engine houses were situated at every station except for Exeter St Thomas
Exeter St Thomas railway station
Exeter St Thomas railway station is a suburban railway station in Exeter, United Kingdom, serving the suburb of St Thomas and the riverside area. The station is elevated on a low viaduct with entrances on Cowick Street. The station is unstaffed with the former station building now used for offices...
where the driver had to hold the train against the atmospheric pressure with the brakes.
The level portions used 15 inches (381 mm) pipes but the steeper gradients west of Newton were to have used 22 inches (559 mm)pipes. It is not clear how the change between the two pipe sizes would have been achieved unless the piston carriages were changed at Newton. It is also unclear how the level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
at Turf was operated as the pipe projected some way above the rails.
Speeds of up to 70 mph (112 km/h) were achieved, but service speeds were usually around 40 mph (64 km/h). The timetable allowed 55 minutes for the 20 miles (32.2 km) journey, but records show that 36% of trains arrived more than five minutes early, some by more than ten minutes.
Turf
The remains of Turf engine house can be seen on the river side of the line just where the railway comes alongside the River ExeRiver Exe
The River Exe in England rises near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, near the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south coast of Devon...
near Turf Lock, the entrance to the Exeter Canal
Exeter Canal
The Exeter Ship Canal, sometimes just called the Exeter Canal, downstream of Exeter, Devon, England was built in the 1560s which means it pre-dates the "canal mania" period and is one of the oldest artificial waterways in the UK.-History:...
.
The square pond surrounded by trees on the river side of the line was the main water reservoir. Just to the south of this the foundations of some buildings can be seen. This was where the engine house itself was built, although some of the foundations are from later alterations. The building was demolished about 1860 and the stone used in a nearby farm.
Starcross
Starcross railway station
Starcross railway station is a small station on the Exeter to Plymouth line in the village of Starcross, Devon, England. It is on the shore of the River Exe estuary and is linked to a pier used by the ferry to Exmouth on the other side of the estuary...
. The chimney was reduced in height for safety many years ago. For a while it had a new pitched roof, but this has since been removed.
After the engines ceased work, the boiler house was used by coal merchants until 1981. The engine area was used as a Wesleyan Church
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...
from 1867 to 1958, after which it was used as a youth club for a few years. The whole building was sold and reopened as a museum for the atmospheric railway in 1982. This has since closed and the building is now used by the local sailing club.
Dawlish
Although largely demolished in 1873, part of the engine house wall can be seen at the back of Dawlish railway station car park.Torquay
Torre railway station
Torre station is a suburban station on the Riviera Line in Torquay, Devon, England. The station is operated by First Great Western but is not staffed; except for one evening train it is only served by local services.-History:...
the decision had already been made to abandon atmospheric working, so this engine house was never used. It was however completed and is the surviving example with the least number of exterior modifications. It is also the one least often seen. It is above the level of the railway where it runs in a cutting, on the right hand side of the line approaching from Newton Abbot railway station
Newton Abbot railway station
Newton Abbot railway station serves the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. It is from London on the Exeter to Plymouth line via the Reading to Taunton line, at the junction for the branch to . For many years it was also the junction for Moretonhampstead and the site of a large locomotive...
, about 440 yards (402.3 m) before reaching Torre railway station
Torre railway station
Torre station is a suburban station on the Riviera Line in Torquay, Devon, England. The station is operated by First Great Western but is not staffed; except for one evening train it is only served by local services.-History:...
. It is easily viewed from a supermarket car park in Newton Road.
Totnes
Totnes railway station
Totnes railway station serves the towns of Totnes and Dartington in Devon, England. It is situated on the Exeter to Plymouth line and is operated by First Great Western...
was never brought into use, but has been converted for use as a milk processing plant for Dairy Crest
Dairy Crest
Dairy Crest Group plc is a major dairy products company in the United Kingdom. Its brands include Cathedral City Cheddar cheese, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite, Clover, St Ivel and Frijj. The company delivers milk to around 1.1 million households via their milkmen...
.
Further reading
- Records of the South Devon Railway can be consulted at The National Archives
- A series of detailed water colours by W Dawson showing the line with atmospheric pipes installed are in the collection of the Institution of Civil EngineersInstitution of Civil EngineersFounded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...