Today in Technology History
(Published weekdays. To receive "Today in Technology History" by e-mail, click here. To read past issues, click here.)
January 9
A pioneer of the rail locomotive, William Hedley, died exactly 160 years ago.
Born in 1779 in the English town of Newburn, Hedley became manager of a nearby colliery (coal mine). Wooden wagons pulled by horses were used to haul coal from the mines to a harbor five miles away. To ease the burden, these wagons rode upon wooden rails.
Hedley's boss at the colliery in the town of Wylam was interested in using steam engines to power the wagons. (Miners were quite familiar with steam engines by this time, having used them to pump water out of mines since the early 1700s.) Hedley's boss hired an engineer, Richard Trevithick, who had been trying to build effective steam locomotives for a decade. Trevithick built the "Wylam Locomotive" -- but since it weighed five tons, it was too heavy for the wooden rails in Wylam.
In 1808, those wooden rails were replaced with rails made of iron. Wanting another locomotive, the colliery's owner now turned to Hedley. With the help of an engineer and a blacksmith, Hedley produced an eight-ton locomotive called "Puffing Billy" (finished in about 1813). One of the earliest successful steam locomotives, Puffing Billy served the colliery for almost five decades.
Hedley's most important contribution was his solution to the "smooth rail" problem. Many engineers trying to build locomotives found that iron wheels tended to slip on smooth iron rails, so they built rails with gears. Hedley showed that smooth wheels and rails could produce sufficient friction if designed correctly.
Hedley continued to work with steam-powered machines until he died at the age of 63 on January 9, 1843.
Related links:
Click here to read more about Hedley.
Click here to read more about the wooden railways that preceded iron rails.
| Biotechnology | Convergence | Creativity | Culture | E-conomics | Education |
| Equity | Gov't & Politics | Innovation | National Security | Personal Security |
For errors, broken links, questions or comments,
contact webmaster@tecsoc.org.