The LNER Encyclopedia

Historians, and students of early railway development, may be interested in these photos I took last summer on a road trip to Nova Scotia. They show an original Timothy Hackworth 0-6-0 locomotive, built in 1838 at the Soho works, Durham, which arrived in Canada in 1839 to work at the Albion mines near New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. I was totally blown away when I walked into this small-ish museum in Stelarton and saw it there. Apparently it was shipped over with a chap from the works called George Davidson, who reassembled the loco and became the full time driver. He never returned to the UK. It is the oldest surviving locomotive in Canada and must be one of the oldest 0-6-0's in North America. It has a return flue boiler, so the fireman was at the smokestack end and the driver at the other. I think the wheels were cast in seperate parts, and what I found amazing, there are no frames, the axles, axle boxes and springs are all held in a bracket that is fixed directly to the boiler!! The other thing that surprised me was just how thin the coupling rods were. Apparently it was a great success and enjoyed a long working life.

I had not heard of this loco before, it certainly is a gem. The family resemblance to Derwent is obvious. The condition seems to be really good, do you know if it has been extensively restored?

Mr S you have just asked all the questions i want to ask.

60041 wrote:I had not heard of this loco before, it certainly is a gem. The family resemblance to Derwent is obvious. The condition seems to be really good, do you know if it has been extensively restored?

it appears that the axles have been skimmed and rebushed with new brass/bronze bearings,and a overall light sand/ bead/shot blasting and a thin coat of paint.

Two thing's, I forgot to tell you the loco is called Sampson and I said smoke stack instead of chimney.
Here is another photo from the drivers end. Unfortunatly I did not have my tripod so some pic's were dud's. It was one of three loco's from Hackworth's, the other two being Hercules and John Buddle. The three loco's hauled coals on the Albion Rail Road, (in chaldrons) a six mile run from the mine to a loading pier, on what was the first standard gauge track in Canada laid with cast iron, fish belly rail. Sampsom was semi retired in 1867, but worked on at the Foord Pit, until 1883. It was sent to Chicago, for the National Exhibition of Railway Appliances, and again in 1893 to the Chicago Worlds Fair. It stayed in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad museum until 1927, when it came back to Nova Scotia.
This photo shows it at work. The coach was also built by Hackworth's and came over with the loco. You can also see a chaldron wagon at the back.
The Museum of Industry in Sellarton NS also have another old 0-6-0 loco, the Albion, built 1853 from Rayne and Burns of Newcastle, a builder I have never heard of. It is in the same good condition as Sampson but was not on display. I saw it through a storage room door and it has inclined cylinders at the front.

Im sure the name John Buddle was to do with a man of that name who was an over viewer at a Tyneside pit who pioneered railway traction in the coal industry can anyone comment further.

By co incidence I was at a meeting of the NERA today in York and the name John Buddle came up a number of times in a lecture about the early development of wagonways in the NE in the period 1800 - 1830.

John Buddle seems to have a place in history thats been overlooked i will endeavour to find out more about him. I think that this thread should also be moved to Railway chat.

I can supply some info. on Rayne & Burns from Lowes book on British Steam Locomotive builders: he states that their activites were limited to being agents or sub contractors. 3 x six coupled locos were supplied to the General Mining Association Railways in Nova Scotia. one went to the Acadia Coal Co in Stellaton in 1853 & this was named Albion. the other two Halifax & Pictou were supplied to Nova Scotia in 1854. Also in 1845 they supplied a loco to the Great Grimsby & Sheffield Junction Railway it was a 2.4.0 No. 60 Nemesis

Thanks YNMR, so if they were only agents it begs the question who built the locos, Hackworths again?
I found a link to this photo of Albion. It has inside frames, inclined cylinders, what look like H section wheels, with flangeless center drivers.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 86&nseq=23

John Editor of NERA Express just asked me if I had seen this posting. I've joined LNER Encyclopedia immediately, did not know of you !

John no doubt alerted me to the Sampson story because of my general interest in early railways and also my previous championing of Timothy Hackworth who's achievements are very much underrated. He published an article for me to this effect in NERA Express a couple of years ago and it's also appeared in Railway Archive.

'Sampson', a typical Hackworth two-tender return-tube 0-6-0 was reputed to be Canada's first steam locomotive but I believe somebody refuted this reputation in a later edition of Railway Archive. I would certainly like to pop over and see Sampson, Owd Sweedy, I've read a fair bit about her. Hackworth also supplied Russia's first reliable steam loco, a 2-2-2, in 1836.

John Buddle is occupying my attention at the moment, especially with regard to his apparent partnership with William Chapman. He was viewer and partner of several collieries in the early 19th century and so great was his influence he was known as 'King of the Coal Trade.' William Chapman was also a skilled engineer and made the first survey for the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway. He is best known in railway history for his 'chain engine' which hauled itself along by a central chain arrangement. It seems that Buddle partnered Chapman when they took out a patent for this engine in 1812/3. But their partnership in later locomotives is not so well known. At Heaton, Lambton and Wallsend collieries Buddle and Chapman worked to make the 'Steam Elephant' and associated locomotives. Beamish museum have a replica of 'Steam Elaphant' in their growing collection of wonderful loco replicas.

There is quite an extensive piece on this locomotive in the first volume of Early Railways. This article is by Dr Michael R Baily and John P Glithero entitled Learning Through Reseach: The Samson Project. It consists of a scientific survey of the locomotive.

In the historic pre-amble it says that John Budle was the consulting mine engineer of General Mining Association of London, the owners of the Albion mines. The building of the three locomotives was sub-contracted to Shildon by George & John Rennie, marine engineers of Blackfriars, London. The Rennies were just getting into locomotive manufacture, but couldn't meet the time scale - not much changes!

In the same invaluable (together with the other two so far published) volume mentioned by 73D - a Southern Gentleman, how do you do ! - is an article by Andy Guy which profiles John Buddle - along with several other little known but vital early loco/mining - they go together -engineers. The companion article by Jim Rees - ex of Beamish museum, now collections chief at NRM York - is alsot vital to the early period - in fact I think these two are the best authorities on earliest railways, locomotive engines and their designer/builders.

Were you at Early Rail 4 last Summer, 73D. I thoroughly enjoyed it but was way out of depth.

Judging by the number of posts on this topic, Ian Allan rep was right, there aren't too many people interested in these vital first years of our enthusiasm.

'edge'og.

Whilst I was searching through the New York Public Library website, for locos, I noticed this photo, which might be of interest within your topic. Seems NYPL weren't sure if it was Hurcules or Samson. Photo looks like it's from an exhibition. Either 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago; or 1927 B&O Fair of the Iron Horse, Baltimore, MD. Samson was at both of these.

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigi ... os=991&e=w

More photos here: http://www.parl.ns.ca/samson/images.htm

http://www.steamlocomotive.info/onephot ... splay=1857

I like the fact, that despite being at an exhibition, the coach has obviously suffered some damage to its rear end.
Also was it common for the door lock mechanism to be on the outside of the door?