| Richard Trevithick’s Baulk Railroad Ties | |
|---|---|
|
Origin |
Richard Trevithick |
|
Type |
Timber-Mounted Railway Tracks |
|
Effects |
Makes large objects mobile via steam propulsion. |
|
Downsides |
Requires cleared path to operate best. Causes financial instability |
|
Activation |
Placement underneath an object |
|
Collected by |
Warehouse 12 |
|
Section |
|
|
Date of Collection |
December 2, 1809 |
| [Source] | |
Origin[]
Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He was an early pioneer of steam-powered road and rail transport, and his most significant contributions were the development of the first high-pressure steam engine and the first working railway steam locomotive. The world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey took place on 21 February 1804, when Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks, in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.
Turning his interests abroad Trevithick also worked as a mining consultant in Peru and later explored parts of Costa Rica. Throughout his professional career he went through many ups and downs and at one point faced financial ruin, also suffering from the strong rivalry of many mining and steam engineers of the day. During the prime of his career he was a well-known and highly respected figure in mining and engineering, but near the end of his life he fell out of the public eye.
Locomotives[]
Catch Me Who Can was the fourth and last steam railway locomotive created by Trevithick. It was an evolution of three earlier locomotives which had been built for Coalbrookdale, Penydarren ironworks and Wylam colliery. Demonstration runs began in July 1808, and Catch Me Who Can was the first locomotive in the world to haul fare-paying passengers.
Catch Me Who Can was constructed during 1808 by the engineers John Urpeth Rastrick and John Hazledine at their foundry in Bridgnorth, England. It was demonstrated to the public at Trevithick's "Steam Circus", a circular track in Bloomsbury, just south of the present-day Euston Square tube station, in London. Members of the public could pay to ride in carriages pulled by Catch Me Who Can around this track. During these demonstration runs, the locomotive reached a reported speed of between 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) and 15 miles per hour (24 km/h).
The circus closed following a derailment caused by one of the rails breaking underneath the locomotive. While the advantages and applications of steam locomotives had been demonstrated, the venture was a financial failure that played a significant part in Trevithick's bankruptcy in 1809.
In spite of his goal of introducing steam locomotion to the public, Trevithick built a high wooden fence around the demonstration track, concealing it from view to all but those who paid to enter. This may have been done as a means of increasing revenue. Catch Me Who Can became the world’s first locomotive to haul fare-paying passengers
Effects[]
Allows any singular, usually immovable object to be propelled by steam with an equivalent amount of force. Will generate a film lifting the mass off the ground, being able to adjust to change in elevation easily. But it requires a cleared path to guide the object, or any obstacle will cause it to return to ground instead of moving around. Operator become smitten with financial difficulties after they reach the destination.
Used in previous eras as a method to move large, finicky and sensitive artifacts that are difficult to transport or easily activate by contact. Sometimes still used in conjunction when moving vehicles or buildings through the front hangar.