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Even though the 52-mile section between Exeter and Plymouth, England was only partly completed, Brunel's Atmospheric Railway was the most extensive ever built. |
Isambard Kingdom Brunel's
Atmospheric Railway c1847
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Even though the 52-mile section between Exeter and Plymouth, England was only partly completed, Brunel's Atmospheric Railway was the most extensive ever built. |
Known to locals as the 'Atmospheric caper' it was
plagued by problems from the start. Initial tests showed that the original
12" (30cm) pipe needed to be replaced by one of 15" (38cm). This meant
that the pumping engines already installed along the route had to run
faster than their design speed in order to exhaust the pipe sufficiently.
The first passenger trains eventually ran in September 1847. There were
frequent breakdowns, which resulted in third class passengers having to
get out and push. The main problem though, was the leather sealing valve,
which rapidly deteriorated. (There was no other suitable flexible material
available in the mid 1800's.) When it was discovered that the whole valve
needed replacing after less than a year of service at a cost of £25,000,
the South Devon Railway directors abandoned the project in favour of
conventional locomotives. The last atmospheric passenger train ran in
September 1848. |
The pipes were cast too roughly, the steam engine pumps
kept breaking down, and the leather valve along the pipe, was eaten by
rats. Despite these problems, the Atmospheric Railway ran quite well
towards the end of its life, and was a firm favourite with the passengers
- except maybe those in third class. During the Spring and Summer of
1848 nine trains a day were running between Exeter and Teignmouth
and average speeds of 64 mph (103 kph) were attained. The
highest speed recorded was 70 mph (112 kph) with a train of 28 tons
(28,450kg).A secondary history, sourced differenty, regarding the Atmospheric Railway, can be read by clicking here
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The map shows the section of the South Devon Railway on
which Brunel applied the Atmospheric System. Steam powered pumps were
installed in engine houses at the places marked in red. Each engine house
contained two 41.5 h.p (31 kW) vertical vacuum pumping engines fed with
steam from boilers at 40lbs/square inch. (2.8 bar). They were designed to
run independently to allow maintenance, though in practice they had to run
coupled, and at top speed -to the dismay of the boilermen who had to keep
shoveling the coal- in order to compensate for the leaky leather valve.
The distance between successive pumping stations was around 3 miles
(4.8km). Additional pumping houses were built at Torquay and Totnes,
though engines were never installed. |
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 The pumping house at Starcross is the most intact
remaining. It was built in an Italianate style that was popular at the
time. The two engines used to stand about 30 feet high in the main part of
the building though they have long since disappeared. The top of the
chimney was removed as it presented a danger to the main railway line that
runs along the top of the sea wall in the foreground. The building is now
the property of Starcross Fishing & Cruising Club. http://www.starcross-fcc.com |
