''Lancashire Witch'' was an early

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

built by

Robert Stephenson and Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build Steam locomotive, railway engines. Famou ...

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

in 1828. It was a development of ''Locomotion''.

Description

''Lancashire Witch'' was an 0-4-0 locomotive with rear mounted cylinders inclined at 45 degrees driving to the front wheels. The rear wheels were powered via

coupling rod A coupling rod or side rod connects the driving wheels of a locomotive. Steam locomotives in particular usually have them, but some diesel and electric locomotives, especially older ones and shunter locomotives, also have them. The coupling ro ...

s. The

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

had two flue tubes and the locomotive burnt coke, aided by bellows on the tender. It was the first locomotive with steel springs. It was the first locomotive built by Robert Stephenson and Company.

History

The locomotive that was to become ''Lancashire Witch'' was ordered by the board of the

Liverpool and Manchester Railway The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It ...

(L&MR) in January 1828. The boiler was to incorporate a series a small flues, this evolved into a large central flue and two smaller side flues bent at the end. Four months after the order the L&MR board transferred the order to the Bolton and Leigh Railway. ''Lancashire Witch'' was used on the Bolton and Leigh Railway (B&LR), which opened in June 1828, and also on the L&MR. On the B&LR it was initially used in the construction of the line, where it was found to be capable of hauling up a

gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...

of 1 in 432 (2.3

‰ The phrase per mille () indicates parts per thousand. The associated symbol is , similar to a per cent sign but with an extra zero in the divisor. Major dictionaries do not agree on the spelling, giving other options of per mil, per mill, pe ...

or 0.23 %) at .

Postage stamps

''Lancashire Witch'' appeared on two postage stamps issued by

Funafuti Funafuti is an atoll, comprising numerous islets, that serves as the capital of Tuvalu. As of the 2017 census, it has a population of 6,320 people. More people live in Funafuti than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with it containing approximately 6 ...

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Van ...

on 24 December 1984.

Other locomotives

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

Royal Scot Class

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...

locomotive 6125 was named ''Lancashire Witch'' in March 1928. Later that year an engraved brass plaque was added, depicting the original locomotive of 1828. The name and engraved plaque were removed in July 1935, and on 30 July 1936 a new name '' 3rd Carabinier'' was unveiled at a ceremony. The ''Royal Scot'' class loco was built by the

North British Locomotive Company The North British Locomotive Company (NBL, NB Loco or North British) was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp, Stewart and Company (Atlas Works), Neilson, Reid and Company (Hyde Park W ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in September 1927 and withdrawn in October 1964 as 46125. Class 86 locomotive 86 213 was named ''Lancashire Witch''. This locomotive has been preserved in operational condition by the AC Locomotive Group.

References and notes

Bibliography

* * * * {{Early-steam-locos 0-4-0 locomotives Individual locomotives of Great Britain Early steam locomotives Steam locomotives of Great Britain Liverpool and Manchester Railway locomotives Robert Stephenson and Company locomotives Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain