In the same year the Glasgow and Garrnskirk Railway was opened, and George Stephenson drove the first engine, bearing bis own name and built at his Newcastle works. In May of 1832 came the Leicester & Swannington Railway, referred to at the opening of this chapter, and Stephenson drove "The Comet," accompanied by his son and the regular driver. Robert Weatherburn. The chimney stood thirteen feet high from the rail level, but on the opening day it was knocked down in the Glenfield tunnel, being then reduced to 12 feet 6 inches. Other firms were busy constructing engines for the various lines now established, but they did net have the consistent success of Stephenson. He gradually developed to the six-wheeled type, and extended to the horizontal shape and shorter funnel, a notable example being "Atlas No. 8," issued in February, 1834, for the Leicester & Swannington Railway. Its weight was 20 tons, and pressure of steam 70 lbs. It was of a type afterwards very largely employed; it worked faithfully for 25 years, and became the property of the Midland Railway when they took over the Leicester & Swannington.
The Newcastle to Carlisle Railway was opened on March 9th, 1835, with the "Comet," built by Messrs. Hawthorne & Co., of Newcastle.
The locomotive of to-day is not the invention of any one man. Hundreds of able engineers and draughtsmen have improved it step by step since 1825, and many controversies have turned around every section of its structure. Failures contributed as vitally as successes in those early days to show the way. The opening of the Great Western Railway (broad gauge) in 1837 opened "The battle of the gauges," which continued for fifteen years afterwards, and the rivalry itself assisted the development of the engine. Messrs. Brunel & Gooch placed engines on that line having driving wheels eight feet in diameter and in 1837-8 Mr. Brunel designed, and Messrs. Hawthorne constructed the "Hurricane," having a pair of ten feet wheels, the largest wheels ever made. William Howe, in 1843, invented the well-known "link-motion" valve gear, which became generally adopted for locomotives.
