Blists Hill, Ironbridge, Trevithick first steam loco

[speedstick77]

Cheers to the UK for preserving this marvelous heritage. We stand in awe, Sirs!

[eltfell]

This was genesis... to all them TGVs, ICEs, Shinkansens and Acelas.

[CaptBubble]

Cheers, Ironbridge is already high up on my list!

[CaptBubble]

Brilliant. The main problem with this and Trevithick's other early steam locos was that the cast iron rails were too brittle and weak to take the weight. In 1802 he made the road going Puffing Devil, then 2 years later the London Steam Carriage, both of which have been replicated and are on You Tube. Trevithick's locos were built to haul coal not passengers. Must go to Blist Hill and Camborne sometime!

[cjb12121]

@CaptBubble

if you go to Blists Hill you will enjoy lots of toys. Also go down the road to Ironbridge, to see the very first built iron bridge. The whole area is one great living museum.

[grizzleybearz282004]

A ONE MAN SHOW DID THAY EVER HAVE ANY PASSENGER CARS TO HOOK ON OR NO

[cjb12121]

@grizzleybearz282004

not sure.

Apparently this loco was too heavy to run over the first wooden bridges. Remember this was the very first and engineers such as Brunel had not yet designed iron bridges to take such machines. The Rocket was the first true passenger train. This was the equivalent of the first aircraft or spacecraft.

The story is fascinating.. Google it.

[grizzleybearz282004]

@cjb12121 well i think it a great pice to see of the past on our history how life was and what it took to make somthing like this great video i think i may have seen something like this on a class trip years ago sometime in the early 1990s???

[cjb12121]

@grizzleybearz282004

thanks for your comments. Blists Hill is a very interesting place to visit and experience the village life of the times.

We can all learn a lot from history... we all take things too much for granted.

[McLarenMercedes]

@cjb12121

Hm, most bridges Brunel designed were not made out of iron. The Maidenhead Railway Bridge was made out of brick. Also, most bridges and viaducts on the GWR were made partly out of timber. Those in Devon in particular.

The Brunel designed viaduct in Ivybridge is an example. Only the high pillars (104 feet) were masonry, whereas the bridge/viaduct itself was timber. It carried the heavy trains from 1848 to 1892, and was replaced by the current brick viaduct.

No iron bridge.

[DAKOTA56777]

Can't they at least give it a circle so he doesn't have to reverse it every ten seconds?

[CARLOS62B]

Such simple but wonderful design.

[WHOisHE15]

i thort rocket was the first steam loco built?

[cjb12121]

@WHOisHE15

surprising isn't it ? This was the very first steam loco and pre-dates the Rocket by some 23 yrs. Check it out on google.

[cjb12121]

@WHOisHE15

yep.. this pre-dates the Rocket by some 25 yrs. Check it out on Google

[lauraandy]

It's Blists Hill. I know because I live 5 minutes away.

[cjb12121]

@lauraandy

ooops.. sorry. my keyboard keeps making spelin mistake.

Very nice place.

[lauraandy]

It is a nice place, great for taking photos.

[lexander5]

Very nice, but I think it has to be a boring job only to drive forwards and backwards and that only for a very short destination.

[cjb12121]

@lexander5

The driver is a retired guy who does it for fun...along with all the other volunteers You should go and see it, ... after all, what else do train drivers do.. they can hardly stop off at the pub.