0:00:12 > 0:00:16LOCOMOTIVE WHISTLE BLOWS
0:00:23 > 0:00:27Steam power brought about a revolution in transport.
0:00:27 > 0:00:32It was among Britain's greatest contributions to industry.
0:00:32 > 0:00:37In the age of steam, the railways moved everything and everybody.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40They changed society for ever.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46My interest in railways started at a very early age.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50I was born in a street of terraced houses,
0:00:50 > 0:00:54similar to Coronation Street. All clustered together.
0:00:54 > 0:01:01As a lad, from the back window, I could see the signal box of the main line to Manchester.
0:01:01 > 0:01:08On moonlit nights, you could hear the whistle blowing as it approached Bolton.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11It'd bash across the end of this ginnel,
0:01:11 > 0:01:16fire hole door open, and you could see characters on the footplate.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21That's what inspired me and got me interested in steam engines.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Then, I got really lucky.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29I sat on the end of the platform with a platform ticket in the rain,
0:01:29 > 0:01:35and the guy'd bring the train in, and stop it dead level with me at the end.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Have a quick look to see if there was anyone about,
0:01:39 > 0:01:44and then give me a wave to jump on the engine.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48We went 20 miles. It were quite exciting.
0:01:48 > 0:01:54That was 1950, when locomotive engineering was at its peak.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56At the Bluebell Line in East Sussex,
0:01:56 > 0:02:03they have the largest collection of ex-southern region locomotives in the country.
0:02:03 > 0:02:09The last steam locos were withdrawn from British Rail in 1968.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12But here you can still see them steaming away.
0:02:12 > 0:02:18This one's a Bulleid Light Pacific Blackmoor Vale, built in 1946.
0:02:18 > 0:02:24The reason for the name Bullied is, it's named after its creator,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Oliver Vaughn Snell Bullied.
0:02:27 > 0:02:33He introduced new things like electric welding on his locomotive building to reduce weight.
0:02:33 > 0:02:40And he put this beautiful characteristic streamlining on to reduce air resistance.
0:02:40 > 0:02:46Blackmoor Vale was one of the last Pacifics to run on British Rail.
0:02:46 > 0:02:52Steve, it's like the ultimate, isn't it? The refinements.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57I know that Mr Bullied did a lot of welding, but what else is there?
0:02:57 > 0:03:04- I've noticed other fancy bits. - They made things easier for the crew, like the steam operated doors.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09On the main line, when you're doing 80-90 mile an hour,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12they're great, cos there's a big draw on the fire.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17- Operating the doors quickly, helps keep the...- Keep the heat in.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21Another thing's electric lighting. To light up the gauges.
0:03:21 > 0:03:27You can see the boiler water level, see the reverser in the dark.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31These would've done 80 to 90 miles an hour on the main line.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35On this preserved railway we're allowed 25.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39At 25 miles an hour, it feels like it'll take off,
0:03:39 > 0:03:43- and you've got to hold it back. - Very frustrating.- Yes.
0:03:43 > 0:03:50Anybody who's never had a ride on a locomotive going fast has never lived.
0:03:51 > 0:03:57The Pacifics were the supreme end of the steam engine.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02They remind you of when steam engines were king of the rails,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06and British Rail were the envy of the world.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09ENGINE WHISTLE BLOWS
0:04:14 > 0:04:20Under the fancy paint and lagging is this, a locomotive boiler.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25You look at it, there's the cab with two windows in each corner.
0:04:25 > 0:04:32Near to them is this big square bit, sticking out, and then the boiler barrel, the round bit,
0:04:32 > 0:04:37goes along to the funnel end and this bit is called the firebox.
0:04:37 > 0:04:43All these are screwed stays that go through this outer plate,
0:04:43 > 0:04:50through two inches of water, and through the firebox which is on the inside.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56If these stays weren't here, when the pressure's up to 150 lbs per square inch,
0:04:56 > 0:05:01it would end up like a beer barrel. All these stays are very important.
0:05:01 > 0:05:07Round the back, this is if we were steaming along the railway.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Now, the footplate would be about here.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15Of course, much wider, maybe six, seven feet wide
0:05:15 > 0:05:18against this two foot wide.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23Then you open the door and fling in the wood and right at the far end,
0:05:23 > 0:05:31you can see the tubes which Stephenson's Rocket were the first locomotive to have it like this.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36Them tubes go from the firebox to the smoke box at the other end.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41The products of combustion, the heat goes through the tubes,
0:05:41 > 0:05:46boiling the water a lot faster than great single-flued boilers -
0:05:46 > 0:05:49like the early locomotives that they made.
0:05:49 > 0:05:55It's time we put more wood on to get the water boiling. Here we go.
0:05:59 > 0:06:06Locomotive engineering reached its peak between the 1930s and the 1950s.
0:06:06 > 0:06:12It was the time when the great passenger express locos were built.
0:06:12 > 0:06:19The early railways were very primitive affairs. Basically, just horse-drawn waggonways.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24Their early history was quite chequered and confusing.
0:06:24 > 0:06:31The first railways got coal from the collieries down to rivers and the sea.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35This here is the Tanfield Waggonway or light railway,
0:06:35 > 0:06:40which shows us a lot of how early railways were developed.
0:06:40 > 0:06:46Opened in 1725, it's reputed to be one of the oldest in the world.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49When it first started, it was actually horse drawn.
0:06:49 > 0:06:56In the 18th century, it were the biggest thing that moved coal in England, possibly all the world.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00This wagon isn't an original one.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05It's a replica of the type of wagon used on here with wooden rails.
0:07:05 > 0:07:11You can see even wooden wheels. It's all wood apart from a few iron spikes.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Wooden rails and wheels had lots of disadvantages.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22It only lasted 12 months before the rails were worn away.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26They had trouble with the track setting on fire.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31They came up with some ingenious gimmicks.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34They did an actual double row of wooden track,
0:07:34 > 0:07:41so as the top length of it wore away, they could move sections without disturbing the sleepers.
0:07:41 > 0:07:48This lasted until the 1830s, when the track were replaced by metal.
0:07:50 > 0:07:57By this time, the first steam-powered locos designed to run on metal tracks appeared.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02The pioneer, as with many things associated with steam,
0:08:02 > 0:08:07was the great Cornish engineer, Richard Trevithick.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11Trevithick's first steam locos ran on the roads.
0:08:11 > 0:08:18But the roads were so bad, he decided to have a go at one to run on the rails.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23In 1804, he was asked to build a small locomotive
0:08:23 > 0:08:28for a South Wales mining and iron company, called the Pen y Darren.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31This is it. This is a replica of it.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35It was the first steam locomotive that worked for a living.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39It's a rather ponderous thing as you can see.
0:08:39 > 0:08:45The Pen y Darren pulled a load of ten tonnes of iron ore and 70 men,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49for a distance of some ten miles at five miles an hour.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54It won Richard Trevithick a prize of £500 for being
0:08:54 > 0:08:58the first man in the world to build a successful locomotive.
0:08:58 > 0:09:04Pen y Darren was the first steam engine to work on a railroad.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06But there were problems with it,
0:09:06 > 0:09:12like getting enough grip for smooth wheels to run on a smooth track.
0:09:12 > 0:09:18Trevithick abandoned his experiments, but other engineers worked away at the idea.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22In the early 1800s, one place led the world.
0:09:22 > 0:09:29It's Northumbria you've got to come to, to find the early days of the railways.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34On the Pockerley Waggonway, in the Beamish Open Air Museum,
0:09:34 > 0:09:40they've recreated what the railways of the period actually looked like.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Inside this shed, there's a collection of locomotives
0:09:44 > 0:09:48from the very earliest days of the railways.
0:09:48 > 0:09:54This magnificent locomotive is a full size working replica.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58It's got a wooden chassis, and it's called the Steam Elephant.
0:09:58 > 0:10:04Study it and look at the funnel. It's where it got its name from.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06It's just like an elephant's trunk.
0:10:06 > 0:10:13Originally built in 1815 by Chapman and Buddel, for the Wallsend Colliery,
0:10:13 > 0:10:19It worked from 1815 to 1840, and then mysteriously disappeared.
0:10:19 > 0:10:26These early locos were built for the coalmines in the northeast.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31It was here that the most famous man in railway history worked.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36George Stephenson was an engine wright at Killingworth pit.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40He'd be familiar with locos like the Steam Elephant.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45He didn't invent the locomotive, but he played the leading part
0:10:45 > 0:10:53in turning them onto a means of hauling coal and transporting passengers over long distances.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57It was the beginning of the railways as we know them.
0:10:58 > 0:11:04Many think railway history started in September 1825,
0:11:04 > 0:11:11when George Stephenson's Locomotion No. 1 pulled 38 wagons
0:11:11 > 0:11:15from Shildon to Darlington, then on to Stockton.
0:11:15 > 0:11:23The train weighed 90 tonnes and went at the unbelievable speed of 12 miles an hour.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27It had two cylinders which drove crossbeams and rods.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31The driver's position is stood on the side on a plank,
0:11:31 > 0:11:36which is rather precarious. He works the valve levers,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39and lets the steam into the cylinders.
0:11:39 > 0:11:46On the first run, George Stephenson drove the locomotive and his brothers acted as firemen.
0:11:46 > 0:11:53It must've been exciting. Like being an airline pilot in 1825.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Incredible.
0:11:55 > 0:12:00It had no brakes to stop the thing. The fireman had to jump off,
0:12:00 > 0:12:05and pin down the brakes on the coal wagon. Quite a hairy occupation.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10At the unbelievable speed of 12 miles an hour!
0:12:12 > 0:12:17After the success of the Stockton and Darlington line,
0:12:17 > 0:12:24Stephenson became principal construction engineer for a line between Liverpool and Manchester.
0:12:24 > 0:12:31As it neared completion, they had to decide what sort of motive power was to be used for the line.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36Some wanted horses and some thought stationary engines would be best.
0:12:36 > 0:12:44Stephenson backed the loco, and he managed to persuade the directors to hold a competition,
0:12:44 > 0:12:49known as the Rainhill Trials, to decide on the best design.
0:12:49 > 0:12:56Rocket, entered by George Stephenson and his son Robert was the most successful machine there.
0:12:56 > 0:13:03It outperformed the other competitors with a top speed of 24 miles an hour.
0:13:03 > 0:13:09At the National Railway Museum they've got a cutaway replica of Rocket
0:13:09 > 0:13:13that shows the innovations that made it so successful.
0:13:13 > 0:13:19Stephenson went off track and came up with a revolutionary design,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22which incorporated the fire tube boiler
0:13:22 > 0:13:29and which really is the prototype for all modern locomotive boilers of today.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32In relation to its weight and power,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36it went faster than any other locomotive built before.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41It did away with all the beams and levers of earlier locos.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46This was a revolutionary boiler, never done before.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50The fact that the shell had 25 copper tubes
0:13:50 > 0:13:54going from either end, and the way to transfer the heat
0:13:54 > 0:13:58from the fire into these tubes were this creation here.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01The beginnings of the true firebox.
0:14:01 > 0:14:07It worked better than a single fire tube into the boiler of the earlier models.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10The other thing were the blast pipe,
0:14:10 > 0:14:14which, when the piston turned the wheels round
0:14:14 > 0:14:19the escaping steam for the valve chest went along that copper pipe
0:14:19 > 0:14:24and into the base of the funnel and created a vacuum in the bottom
0:14:24 > 0:14:28which drew the fire with a degree of violence.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33Another thing were the connecting rod which connected the piston
0:14:33 > 0:14:37to the crank pin on the front wheel hub.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39It led to nice smooth running.
0:14:39 > 0:14:45Wooden front wheels on springs. Early engines didn't have springs.
0:14:45 > 0:14:50A clever way so the front axle can oscillate and rock about.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55The crank pins are as big as a tennis ball inside there.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00It's a round, steel ball on the end of the crank pin,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04and the brasses are hollow like an internal sphere.
0:15:04 > 0:15:12So wherever in relation to the piston rod were the connecting rod, the thing would never bind up.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17The brilliant idea of using many tubes
0:15:17 > 0:15:21in the boiler instead of one or two big ones was a good one.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Stephenson didn't invent it.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28A man called Booth drew on the back of a fag packet,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31or some piece of paper!
0:15:31 > 0:15:36Stephenson was good at weighing up what was the best on the market
0:15:36 > 0:15:40and, if it hadn't been patented, using it himself.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43It turned out really successful!
0:15:43 > 0:15:47The Rocket ran for a few years after its trials at Rainhill.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52The cylinders were too high up and the whole thing was top-heavy.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55When you opened it up it used to rock about,
0:15:55 > 0:15:59but the Rocket is really without a shadow of a doubt
0:15:59 > 0:16:05the forerunner of the modern steam locomotive as we know it today.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Alongside Rocket they've another of the competitors
0:16:09 > 0:16:16built by Timothy Hackworth who was Superintendent on the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Timothy built the Sans Pareil
0:16:18 > 0:16:23to enter the Rainhill trials and it were really Stephenson's only rival.
0:16:23 > 0:16:29The Sans Pareil were quite old technology for the time.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32It had the usual shell with the huge flue in it.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35It had one or two other oddities.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40The driver were at one end and the fireman were at the other!
0:16:40 > 0:16:44After a promising start, disaster struck.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47A cylinder split from top to bottom.
0:16:47 > 0:16:54The water pump failed and they nearly ran out of water, which might have caused an explosion.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58It must have been difficult for Hackworth to build a locomotive.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01He didn't even have a workshop.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04He had to buy all the parts in.
0:17:04 > 0:17:11The main parts - the cylinders - were done by his rival, George Stephenson.
0:17:11 > 0:17:17He was bitter because the word "sabotage" came into it at the end
0:17:17 > 0:17:21and ruined his chances of winning the Rainhill trials.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24I don't think it COULD have won.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28The Rocket was the engine that were far superior.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33With its fire tube boiler it was a much better steamer altogether.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45The success of Rocket finally established what motive power
0:17:45 > 0:17:50were going to be used on the Liverpool to Manchester railway,
0:17:50 > 0:17:54and it was immediately equipped with locomotives.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Stephenson got the contract to build it.
0:17:57 > 0:18:03The work was done by his son Robert at his Forth Street locomotive works
0:18:03 > 0:18:08in Newcastle which became the leading manufacturer in the world.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11By 1830, around a 100 locomotives had been built in Britain.
0:18:11 > 0:18:18Stephenson introduced the Planet class for work on the Liverpool and Manchester.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Other railways had different ideas.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25A steam locomotive didn't take over overnight.
0:18:25 > 0:18:32Even after the success of the Stockton and Darlington and Liverpool to Manchester railway,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35other railways were being built.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40It was a combination of old horsepower and new horsepower.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45It seems a convoluted and hotch-potch method to do things
0:18:45 > 0:18:52but it worked because that's what they had here at the Cromford and High Peak railway in Derbyshire.
0:18:52 > 0:18:58When the entrepreneurs wanted to build a canal from the Cromford Canal to the High Peak Canal
0:18:58 > 0:19:03it proved too expensive to cut and build locks over these hills.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08They settled for a system of inclined planes and flat parts.
0:19:08 > 0:19:13On the flat, horses were the motive power but on the inclined planes
0:19:13 > 0:19:16they had double-acting winding drums and engine houses.
0:19:16 > 0:19:23The wire hawser went round this wheel, down to the bottom of the hill and round another wheel.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27It would have been an endless rope haulage system.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32The full ones came up the hill carrying ten tonnes of limestone
0:19:32 > 0:19:37The empty ones came down as a sort of counterbalance.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Originally there were nine of these winding engine houses.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49This is the only one left and it still works.
0:19:49 > 0:19:55This is it. This is the winding engine at the top of the incline.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00It was built in 1829 by the Butterly Iron Company down the road.
0:20:00 > 0:20:07Basically, it's two single-cylinder steam engines joined together by a common crank shaft.
0:20:07 > 0:20:14And as you can see behind me, the flywheel is in the middle and the rope drums disappear with the rope
0:20:14 > 0:20:17out through the wall.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21In the days of low pressures they needed more pressure.
0:20:21 > 0:20:27It were quite common to build two engines and place them side by side.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Rope haulage railways like this
0:20:33 > 0:20:38were quite common and continued to be built well into the 19th century,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41mainly to pull coal.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45This is the Bowes railway that operated until 1974.
0:20:45 > 0:20:51This sort of thing never really took off for passenger railways.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54As the railway network spread across the country
0:20:54 > 0:20:58it was the locomotive that won the day.
0:20:58 > 0:21:05Between 1830 and the end of the century, massive progress was made in locomotive design.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10This one at the National Railway Museum was based on a design
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Robert Stephenson came up with in the 1830s.
0:21:13 > 0:21:18It's amazing what progress was made in such a short time.
0:21:18 > 0:21:24Here on the Bluebell Line, they've got a couple of engines in steam that go back to those early days.
0:21:26 > 0:21:33By the 1870s, London was growing and they needed little locomotives
0:21:33 > 0:21:36for what we now know as commuting services.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40Fenchurch was one of the locos designed for the job.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42STEAM HISSES
0:21:42 > 0:21:44Lovely!
0:21:45 > 0:21:48- That was all right, wasn't it?- Yes!
0:21:50 > 0:21:55This locomotive - Fenchurch - is what's known as a Terrier.
0:21:55 > 0:22:02It's a small locomotive and very popular in the southern counties
0:22:02 > 0:22:05and on the rural lines.
0:22:05 > 0:22:12It was designed by Mr Stroudley in the 1870s and they made a lot. There's a lot of nice bits on it.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16The exhaust could be converted from going up the funnel
0:22:16 > 0:22:23or diverted to the water tank which pre-heats the water and saves a bit of water
0:22:23 > 0:22:26that would normally condense in the atmosphere.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30Considering it were made in 1872 and is still here...
0:22:30 > 0:22:33it's quite a credit to Mr Stroudley!
0:22:35 > 0:22:40The development of the railways wasn't straightforward.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43Especially when the great engineer
0:22:43 > 0:22:47Isambard Kingdom Brunel was involved.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51Britain's railway network had developed a 4ft 8.5 inch gauge.
0:22:51 > 0:22:58Brunel's Great Western Railway was built with a seven foot and quarter inch gauge.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02When Brunel got the idea for his railway
0:23:02 > 0:23:06he already thought that George Stephenson and his son
0:23:06 > 0:23:11and their 4ft 8.5 inch railway was far too narrow.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14That's why he settled for 7ft wide, like this, you see.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18Of course, already half of England
0:23:18 > 0:23:22was covered in 4ft 8.5 inch railways.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26It didn't seem to dawn on him that it would be a bit awkward.
0:23:26 > 0:23:32He thought that it wouldn't be much trouble getting off a narrow train
0:23:32 > 0:23:36and getting on one that was 7ft wide.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40For a time they had both systems.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44The 4ft 8.5 and the 7ft gauge running together.
0:23:44 > 0:23:49But it must have got complicated when they come to a junction
0:23:49 > 0:23:52or a crossover.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57If you're outside a railway station what's just got 4ft 8.5...
0:23:57 > 0:24:03Outside Paddington with both sets it must have been a complicated affair.
0:24:03 > 0:24:09It's the reason they did away with Brunel's extra line on the outside.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Bit of a shame really.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16If they'd kept them 7ft wide it might be a lot smoother
0:24:16 > 0:24:19and a lot faster and everything.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24But Mr Stephenson won with his 4ft 8.5!
0:24:24 > 0:24:30The sad thing is that in the 1890s they did away with the broad gauge.
0:24:30 > 0:24:36All the locomotives that couldn't be converted were given the chop.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39ENGINE WHISTLES
0:24:41 > 0:24:46There are no original Great Western broad gauge trains around today.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50To see what they were like they've built replicas.
0:24:50 > 0:24:56This is Iron Duke which I rode at the National Railway Museum.
0:25:00 > 0:25:06Here at the Didcot Railway Centre they are constructing a replica
0:25:06 > 0:25:09of a broad gauge Firefly class locomotive.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14They've got the frames, cylinders, cranks, the wheels and everything.
0:25:14 > 0:25:21The boiler's been tested and all they have to do is get it into the frames and connect it.
0:25:21 > 0:25:28Then they can ride on a section of 7ft gauge track they've built.
0:25:28 > 0:25:35In spite of losing the battle of the gauges, the Great Western Railway went from strength to strength.
0:25:35 > 0:25:42In 1902 they appointed George Jackson Churchward as the locomotive superintendent.
0:25:42 > 0:25:48He produced designs which were far ahead of the time and successful.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52The work that was begun by Churchward
0:25:52 > 0:25:57was continued by CB Collet who took over in 1922.
0:25:57 > 0:26:04His kings and castles had become a benchmark in the designs of passenger locomotives.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09By the 1930s, the Great Western Railways engines
0:26:09 > 0:26:12were amongst the most famous in the land.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Here at the Didcot Railway Centre
0:26:22 > 0:26:28you get the feeling of what steam locomotion was like on the Great Western Railway.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30TRAIN WHISTLES
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Mmm!
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Fair turn of speed this time.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54The maximum we can do is 25mph
0:26:54 > 0:26:58but it's quite straightforward and comfortable.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02What were the big improvements on these particular things?
0:27:02 > 0:27:06A larger boiler and a four cylinder arrangement.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Two sets of lotions which drive each pair of cylinders.
0:27:10 > 0:27:17I read somewhere...when they'd got to get from London to Bristol at a mile a minute...
0:27:17 > 0:27:22That was one of the requirements and they certainly achieved that.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27- They could go faster but 100mph was pushing them.- Yes.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31How many of this particular class have survived?
0:27:31 > 0:27:35Eight, I believe. There were originally 171.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38What lines did they run on?
0:27:38 > 0:27:45The Great Western radiated from Paddington so they used them for going west to Bristol,
0:27:45 > 0:27:50on the lines through Exeter and Plymouth and to Wales and Birmingham.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58By the 1930s when this was built,
0:27:58 > 0:28:05steam locomotive had come a long way from the first efforts they'd made a hundred years earlier.
0:28:08 > 0:28:15Between 1804 and 1971, Britain had built 110,000 steam locomotives.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18The development of the railways
0:28:18 > 0:28:23was one of the greatest technical developments in British history.