John BlenkinsopDied 22 Jan 1831 (born 1783).English inventor, designer of the first practical and successful railway locomotive. Blenkinsop wanted to find a way of reducing the cost of transporting coal from the Middleton Colliery, Yorkshire, to the nearby town of Leeds. In 1811, he joined forces with engineer Matthew Murray to produce a two-cylinder, geared steam locomotive that utilized a tooth-rack rail system of propulsion. They had rejected the idea that a steam locomotive with smooth wheels on a smooth rail would have sufficient adhesion to propel itself and a load. The Salamanca locomotive, with its cog-toothed driving wheels, first appeared in public on 24 Jun 1812. Four Blenkinsop engines (built 1812-13) hauled coal over cast-iron rails until 1830. |
