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Reminiscences of a Man Closely Connected With Railroad History.The death of the veteran railroad builder, .Joseph Whitehead, at Clinton, Ontario, removes from this sphere one of the most noted men in the history of railroading. He was aged. 82. The most interesting parts of Mr. Whitehead’s railroading reminiscences were those connected with the beginning of railroading in England under George Stephenson. Mr. Whitehead began railroading when he was ten years of age as a driver on the coal tramways near Darlington. The occasion of the building of the road from Darlington to Stockton was to get cheap means of transport for coal to the seaboard. This line was twenty-five miles long, and was built by Quaker mine owners headed by Edward Pease, a celebrity of the time, in the place of a canal they contemplated building. Stephenson talked them over to the idea of a railroad, and then a struggle began that lasted for several years before a charter could be secured. The road was oi-)posecl by all classes of people. Laborers thought that it would throw everybody out of work; the landed proprietors objected because it would ruin their fox covers. Farmers thought it would burn their stacks and farms, and preachers talked against it from the pulpit, because it mocked God by bringing places nearer together than Me ever intended they should be. On this account much of Stephenson's preliminary surveying had to be done by moonlight. When the charter was finally granted the roadbed was constructed on a somewhat different plan from that pursued at present. The rails were laid 011 two foot blocks of wood and were kept from spreading solely by the weight of the ballast. The first engine constructed was the ‘‘Locomotion,” which weighed about twelve tons and had but four wheels. The water tank was made out of a hogshead. On this engine the erstwhile driver of the tram became the first fireman. The road was completed throughout its whole length before the first train was run over it, and on the opening the route was lined with miles and miles of people eager to see the iron horse. The little engine made the run successfully, and proved that it would not do all evil things commonly reported of it. The speed of these early engines was not tremendous. ‘‘What was the rate of speed,’’said Mr. Whitehead to are-porter; “well, that depended on the wind, if we had a heavy head wind on a little grade we often came stock still and had to wait until the wind went down. At other times we used to run about ten or twelve miles an hour.” The next engine built was the Enterprise, and after this Stephenson’s success was complete. From that time onward he was employed in constructing roads in all parts of England and on the continent. The first trip of the Locomotion was made on September. 20th, 1.825. Strange as it may appear, although many other things about railroad construction have been altered, the gauge of the first line of railway ever.laid clown, *1 feet inches, has become the standard gauge of the world.As a contractor Mr. Whitehead built a large part of the Caledonian railway in Scotland, the whole of the Goderich Buffalo, Section B of the Canadian Pacific, the Emerson branch of the Canadian Pacific, and several other short roads in Ontario. Mr. Whitehead was a Reformer in politics, but never held office other than mayor of Clinton, the town to which he retired when he quit railroading, llis son, “Charlie” Whitehead, was also a well-known railroad man. lie built the west end of the Columbia Kootenay in 1800, and was afterwards in charge of several of “Dan” McGillivray’s contracts in and around Vancouver.
Newspaper Details
Nelson Tribune
Nelson, British Columbia, CA
Sat, Mar 31, 1894
Page 2
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