The Salamanca
 The Salamanca | |
| Power type | Steam |
|---|---|
| Builder | Matthew Murray |
| Build date | 1812 |
| Gauge | 4 ft 1 in |
| Total weight | 5 tons |
| Career | Middleton Railway |
'The Salamanca' was the first commercially successful steam locomotive built in 1812 by Matthew Murray for the Middleton Railway in Leeds.[1]
The Salamanca was a rack and pinion locomotive using John Blenkinsop's design for rack propulsion. A single rack ran outside the narrow gauge tracks and was engaged by a cog wheel on the left side of the locomotive. The cog wheel was driven by two cylinders embedded into the top of the center-flue boiler.
Four such locomotives were built for the railway, and they worked until the early 1830s.
References
- ↑ Hamilton Ellis (1968). The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Railways. The Hamlyn Publishing Group, pp.20.
Pre-1830 steam locomotives
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|---|
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Pen-y-darren (1804) •
Catch Me Who Can (1808) •
Puffing Billy (1812) •
Wylam Dilly (1812) •
The Salamanca (1812) •
Blücher (1814) •
Locomotion No. 1 (1825) • |
|
See also: Rainhill trials • History of rail transport in Great Britain to 1830 |
