Joseph Locke
Encyclopedia
Joseph Locke was a notable English
civil engineer
of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson
and Isambard Kingdom Brunel
as one of the major pioneers of railway development.
, Sheffield
in Yorkshire
, moving to nearby Barnsley
when he was five. By the age of 17, Joseph had already served an apprenticeship under William Stobart at Pelaw, on the south bank of the Tyne, and under his own father, William. He was an experienced mining engineer, able to survey, sink shafts, to construct railways, tunnels and stationary engines. Joseph’s father had been a manager at Wallbottle colliery on Tyneside
when George Stephenson
was a fireman there. In 1823, when Joseph was 17, Stephenson was involved with planning the Stockton and Darlington Railway
. He and his son Robert Stephenson
visited William Locke and his son at Barnsley and it was arranged that Joseph would go to work for the Stephensons. The Stephensons established a locomotive works near Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
, to manufacture locomotives for the new railway. Joseph Locke, despite his youth, soon established a position of authority. He and Robert Stephenson became close friends, but their friendship was interrupted, in 1824, by Robert leaving to work in Peru for three years.
, but this was found to be flawed, and the line was re-surveyed by a talented young engineer, Charles Vignoles. Joseph Locke was asked by the directors to carry out another survey of the proposed tunnel works and produce a report. The report was highly critical of the work already done, which reflected badly on Stephenson. Stephenson was furious and henceforth relations between the two men were strained, although Locke continued to be employed by Stephenson, probably because the latter recognised his worth. Despite the many criticisms of Stephenson’s work, when the bill for the new line was finally passed, in 1826, Stephenson was appointed as engineer and he appointed Joseph Locke as his assistant to work alongside Vignoles, who was the other assistant. However, a clash of personalities between Stephenson and Vignoles led to the latter resigning, leaving Locke as the sole assistant engineer. Locke took over responsibility for the western half of the line. One of the major obstacles to be overcome was Chat Moss, a large bog that had to be crossed. Although, Stephenson usually gets the credit for this feat, it is believed that it was Locke who suggested the correct method for crossing the bog.
Whilst the line was being built, the directors were trying to decide whether to use standing engines or locomotives to propel the trains. Robert Stephenson and Joseph Locke were convinced that locomotives were vastly superior, and in March 1829 the two men wrote a report demonstrating the superiority of locomotives when used on a busy railway. The report led to the decision by the directors to hold an open trial to find the best locomotive. This was the Rainhill Trials
, which were run in October 1829, and were won by “Rocket
”.
When the line was finally opened in 1830, it was planned for a procession of eight trains to travel from Liverpool
to Manchester
and back. George Stephenson drove the leading locomotive “Northumbrian”
and Joseph Locke drove “Rocket”. The day was marred by the death of William Huskisson
, the Member of Parliament
for Liverpool, who was struck and killed by “Rocket”.
. This new railway was to join Newton-le-Willows
on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with Warrington
and then on to Birmingham
via Crewe
, Stafford
and Wolverhampton
, a total of 80 miles. During the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, Stephenson had shown a lack of ability in organising major civil engineering projects. On the other hand Locke’s ability to manage complex projects was well known. The directors of the new railway decided on a compromise whereby Locke was made responsible for the northern half of the line and Stephenson was made responsible for the southern half. However Stephenson’s administrative inefficiency soon became apparent, whereas Locke estimated the costs for his section of the line so meticulously and speedily, that he had all of the contracts signed for his section of the line before a single one had been signed for Stephenson's section. The railway company lost patience with Stephenson, but tried to compromise by making both men joint-engineers. Stephenson's pride would not let him accept this, and so he resigned from the project. By autumn of 1835 Locke had become chief engineer for the whole of the line. This caused a rift between the two men, and strained relations between Locke and Robert Stephenson. Up to this point, Locke had always been under George Stephenson’s shadow. From then on, he would be his own man, and stand or fall by his own achievements.
The line was opened on 4 July 1837.
Locke’s route avoided as far as possible major civil engineering works. The main one was the Dutton Viaduct
which crosses the River Weaver
and the Weaver Navigation between the villages of Dutton
and Acton Bridge
in Cheshire
. The viaduct consists of 20 arches with spans of 20 ft.
An important feature of the new railway was the use of double-headed (dumb-bell) wrought-iron rail supported on timber sleepers at 2 ft 6 in intervals. It was intended that when the rails became worn they could be turned over to use the other surface, but in practice it was found that the chairs into which the rails were keyed caused wear to the bottom surface so that it became uneven. However this was still an improvement on the fish-bellied, wrought-iron rails still being used by Robert Stephenson on the London and Birmingham Railway
.
Locke was more careful than Stephenson to get value for his employers' money. For the Penkridge Viaduct
Stephenson had obtained a tender of £26,000. After Locke took over, he gave the potential contractor better information and agreed a price of only £6,000. Locke also tried to avoid tunnels because in those days tunnels often took longer and cost more than planned. The Stephensons regarded 1 in 330 as the maximum slope that an engine could manage and Robert Stephenson achieved this on the London and Birmingham Railway
by using seven tunnels which added both cost and delay. Locke avoided tunnels almost completely on the Grand Junction but exceeded the slope limit for six miles south of Crewe
.
Proof of Locke's ability to estimate costs accurately is given by the fact that the construction of the Grand Junction line cost £18,846 per mile as against Locke's estimate of £17,000. This is amazingly accurate compared with the estimated costs for the London and Birmingham Railway (Robert Stephenson) and the Great Western Railway (Brunel).
Locke also divided the project into a few large sections rather than many small ones. This allowed him to work closely with his contractors to develop the best methods, overcome problems and personally gain practical experience of the building process and of the contractors themselves. He used the contractors who worked well with him, especially Thomas Brassey
and William Mackenzie
, on many other projects. Everyone gained from this cooperative approach whereas Brunel's more adversarial approach eventually made it hard for him to get anyone to work for him.
, which had to cope with the barrier of the Lake District
mountains. In 1839 Stephenson proposed a circuitous route that avoided the Lake District by going all the way round Morecambe Bay
and West Cumberland
, claiming: 'This is the only practicable line from Liverpool to Carlisle. The making of a railway across Shap Fell is out of the question.' The directors rejected his route and chose the one proposed by Joseph Locke, one that used steep gradients and passed over Shap Fell. The line was completed by Locke and was a success.
The difference of opinion between Locke and George Stephenson over the choice of route for the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway illustrates a difference in philosophy between the two men regarding the way to build a railway. Both George and Robert Stephenson were prepared to go to great lengths to avoid steep gradients that would tax the locomotives of the day, even if this meant choosing a circuitous route that added on extra miles. Locke, on the other hand believed that they under-estimated the power of the latest locomotives and that the shortest practicable route should be chosen, even if it involved some steep gradients. His reasoning was that by avoiding long routes and tunneling, the line could be finished more quickly, with less capital costs, and could start earning revenue sooner. This became known as the 'up and over' school of engineering. Locke took a similar approach in planning the Caledonian Railway
, from Carlisle
to Glasgow
. In both railways he introduced gradients of 1 in 75, which severely taxed fully laden locomotives. Even as more powerful locomotives were introduced, the trains that they pulled became heavier. It may therefore be the case that Locke, although his arguments carried the day, was not entirely right in his reasoning.
Locke was subsequently appointed to build a railway line from Manchester to Sheffield, replacing Charles Vignoles as chief engineer, after the latter had been beset by misfortunes and financial difficulties. The project included the three-mile Woodhead Tunnel
, and the line opened, after many delays, on 23 December 1845. The building of the line required over a thousand navvies
and cost the lives of thirty-two of them, seriously injuring 140 others. The Woodhead Tunnel was such a difficult undertaking, that George Stephenson claimed that it could not be done, declaring that he would eat the first locomotive that got through the tunnel. It was estimated that the mortality amongst the navvies at the Woodhead Tunnel was just over 3 per cent, whereas the mortality amongst soldiers at the Battle of Waterloo was only 2.11 per cent.
; the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway
; and the Caledonian Railway
from Carlisle to Glasgow
and Edinburgh
.
In the south, he worked on the London and Southampton Railway, later called the London and South Western Railway
, designing, among other structures, Richmond Railway Bridge
(1848, since replaced), and Barnes Bridge (1849), both across the River Thames, tunnels at Micheldever
, and the 12-arch Quay Street viaduct and the 16-arch Cams Hill viaduct, both in Fareham
(1848).
He was actively involved in planning and building many railways in Europe, including the Le Havre
, Rouen
, Paris
rail link, the Barcelona
to Mataró
line and the Dutch Rhenish Railway. He was present in Paris when the Versailles train crash
occurred in 1842, and produced a statement concerning the facts for General Charles Pasley
of the Railway Inspectorate. He also experienced a catastrophic failure of one of his viaducts built on the new Paris-Le Havre link. . The viaduct was of stone and brick at Barentin
near Rouen
, and was the longest and highest on the line. It was 108 feet high, and consisted of 27 arches, each 50 feet wide, with a total length of over 1600 feet. A boy hauling ballast for the line up an adjoining hillside early that morning (about 6.00 am) saw one arch (the fifth on the Rouen side) collapse, and the rest followed suit. Fortunately, no one was killed, although several workmen were injured in a mill below the structure. Locke attributed the catastrophic failure to frost action on the new lime cement, and premature off-centre loading of the viaduct with ballast. It was rebuilt at Thomas Brassey
’s cost, and survives to the present. Having pioneered many new lines in France, Locke also helped establish the first locomotive works in the country.
Distinctive features of Locke’s railway works were economy, the use of masonry bridges wherever possible and the absence of tunnels. An illustration of this is that there is no tunnel between Birmingham and Glasgow.
.
In 1845, Locke and Stephenson were both called to give evidence before two committees. In April a House of Commons Select Committee was investigating the atmospheric railway
system proposed by Brunel. Brunel and Vignoles spoke in support of the system, whilst Locke and Stephenson spoke against it. The latter two were to be proved right in the long run. In August the two gave evidence before the Gauge Commissioners who were trying to arrive at a standard gauge for the whole country. Brunel spoke in favour of the 7 ft gauge he was using on the Great Western Railway
. Locke and Stephenson spoke in favour of the 4 ft 8½in gauge that they had used on several lines. The latter two won the day and their gauge was adopted as the standard.
Locke served as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers
in between December 1857 and December 1859.
Locke also served as Member of Parliament for Honiton
in Devon
from 1847.
Locke died in 1860, apparently from appendicitis, whilst on a shooting holiday. He is buried in London's Kensal Green Cemetery
.
Locke Park in Barnsley was dedicated to his memory by his wife Phoebe in 1862. It features a statue of Locke plus a folly
, 'Locke Tower'.
Locke's greatest legacy is the modern day West Coast Main Line
(WCML), which was formed by the joining of the Caledonian, Lancaster & Carlisle, Grand Junction railways to Robert Stephenson's London & Birmingham Railway. As a result, around three quarters of the WCML's route was planned and engineered by Locke.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS was an English civil engineer. He was the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer; many of the achievements popularly credited to his father were actually the joint efforts of father and son.-Early life :He was born on the 16th of...
and Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
as one of the major pioneers of railway development.
Early life and career
Locke was born in AttercliffeAttercliffe
Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don.-History:The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry in the Domesday book -Ateclive- meaning at the cliffe, a small escarpment that lay alongside the River Don...
, Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, moving to nearby Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
when he was five. By the age of 17, Joseph had already served an apprenticeship under William Stobart at Pelaw, on the south bank of the Tyne, and under his own father, William. He was an experienced mining engineer, able to survey, sink shafts, to construct railways, tunnels and stationary engines. Joseph’s father had been a manager at Wallbottle colliery on Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
when George Stephenson
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
was a fireman there. In 1823, when Joseph was 17, Stephenson was involved with planning the Stockton and Darlington Railway
Stockton and Darlington Railway
The Stockton and Darlington Railway , which opened in 1825, was the world's first publicly subscribed passenger railway. It was 26 miles long, and was built in north-eastern England between Witton Park and Stockton-on-Tees via Darlington, and connected to several collieries near Shildon...
. He and his son Robert Stephenson
Robert
The name Robert is a Germanic given name, from hrod "fame" and beraht "bright". It is also in use as a surname.After becoming widely used in Continental Europe it entered England in its Old French form Robert, where an Old English cognate form had existed before the Norman Conquest...
visited William Locke and his son at Barnsley and it was arranged that Joseph would go to work for the Stephensons. The Stephensons established a locomotive works near Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, to manufacture locomotives for the new railway. Joseph Locke, despite his youth, soon established a position of authority. He and Robert Stephenson became close friends, but their friendship was interrupted, in 1824, by Robert leaving to work in Peru for three years.
Liverpool and Manchester Railway
George Stephenson carried out the original survey of the line of the Liverpool and Manchester RailwayLiverpool and Manchester Railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives. The line opened on 15 September 1830 and ran between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester in North...
, but this was found to be flawed, and the line was re-surveyed by a talented young engineer, Charles Vignoles. Joseph Locke was asked by the directors to carry out another survey of the proposed tunnel works and produce a report. The report was highly critical of the work already done, which reflected badly on Stephenson. Stephenson was furious and henceforth relations between the two men were strained, although Locke continued to be employed by Stephenson, probably because the latter recognised his worth. Despite the many criticisms of Stephenson’s work, when the bill for the new line was finally passed, in 1826, Stephenson was appointed as engineer and he appointed Joseph Locke as his assistant to work alongside Vignoles, who was the other assistant. However, a clash of personalities between Stephenson and Vignoles led to the latter resigning, leaving Locke as the sole assistant engineer. Locke took over responsibility for the western half of the line. One of the major obstacles to be overcome was Chat Moss, a large bog that had to be crossed. Although, Stephenson usually gets the credit for this feat, it is believed that it was Locke who suggested the correct method for crossing the bog.
Whilst the line was being built, the directors were trying to decide whether to use standing engines or locomotives to propel the trains. Robert Stephenson and Joseph Locke were convinced that locomotives were vastly superior, and in March 1829 the two men wrote a report demonstrating the superiority of locomotives when used on a busy railway. The report led to the decision by the directors to hold an open trial to find the best locomotive. This was the Rainhill Trials
Rainhill Trials
The Rainhill Trials were an important competition in the early days of steam locomotive railways, run in October 1829 in Rainhill, Lancashire for the nearly completed Liverpool and Manchester Railway....
, which were run in October 1829, and were won by “Rocket
Stephenson's Rocket
Stephenson's Rocket was an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement, built in Newcastle Upon Tyne at the Forth Street Works of Robert Stephenson and Company in 1829.- Design innovations :...
”.
When the line was finally opened in 1830, it was planned for a procession of eight trains to travel from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
to Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and back. George Stephenson drove the leading locomotive “Northumbrian”
Northumbrian (locomotive)
Northumbrian was an early steam locomotive built by Robert Stephenson in 1830 and used at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. It was the last of Stephenson's 0-2-2 locomotives in the style of Rocket, but it introduced several innovations...
and Joseph Locke drove “Rocket”. The day was marred by the death of William Huskisson
William Huskisson
William Huskisson PC was a British statesman, financier, and Member of Parliament for several constituencies, including Liverpool...
, the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Liverpool, who was struck and killed by “Rocket”.
Grand Junction Railway
In 1829 Locke was George Stephenson’s assistant, given the job of surveying the route for the Grand Junction RailwayGrand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...
. This new railway was to join Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows is a small market town within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it is situated about midway between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, to the east of St Helens, to the north of Warrington and to the south of...
on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
and then on to Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
via Crewe
Crewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
, Stafford
Stafford
Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...
and Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, a total of 80 miles. During the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, Stephenson had shown a lack of ability in organising major civil engineering projects. On the other hand Locke’s ability to manage complex projects was well known. The directors of the new railway decided on a compromise whereby Locke was made responsible for the northern half of the line and Stephenson was made responsible for the southern half. However Stephenson’s administrative inefficiency soon became apparent, whereas Locke estimated the costs for his section of the line so meticulously and speedily, that he had all of the contracts signed for his section of the line before a single one had been signed for Stephenson's section. The railway company lost patience with Stephenson, but tried to compromise by making both men joint-engineers. Stephenson's pride would not let him accept this, and so he resigned from the project. By autumn of 1835 Locke had become chief engineer for the whole of the line. This caused a rift between the two men, and strained relations between Locke and Robert Stephenson. Up to this point, Locke had always been under George Stephenson’s shadow. From then on, he would be his own man, and stand or fall by his own achievements.
The line was opened on 4 July 1837.
New Methods
Dutton Viaduct
Dutton Viaduct is a railway viaduct on the West Coast Main Line where it crosses the River Weaver and the Weaver Navigation between the villages of Dutton and Acton Bridge in Cheshire, England . It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.It was built during 1836...
which crosses the River Weaver
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732...
and the Weaver Navigation between the villages of Dutton
Dutton, Cheshire
thumb|right|200px|Map of civil parish of Dutton within the former borough of Vale RoyalDutton is a civil parish and village within the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is located approximately east of Runcorn.-External links:...
and Acton Bridge
Acton Bridge
right|thumb|Map of the civil parish of Acton Bridge within the former borough of Vale RoyalActon Bridge is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. Located within the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester on the River Weaver, it is near the Trent and Mersey Canal at approximately...
in Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. The viaduct consists of 20 arches with spans of 20 ft.
An important feature of the new railway was the use of double-headed (dumb-bell) wrought-iron rail supported on timber sleepers at 2 ft 6 in intervals. It was intended that when the rails became worn they could be turned over to use the other surface, but in practice it was found that the chairs into which the rails were keyed caused wear to the bottom surface so that it became uneven. However this was still an improvement on the fish-bellied, wrought-iron rails still being used by Robert Stephenson on the London and Birmingham Railway
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....
.
Locke was more careful than Stephenson to get value for his employers' money. For the Penkridge Viaduct
Penkridge Viaduct
Penkridge Viaduct is a railway viaduct on the West Coast Main Line where it crosses the River Penk and Levedale Road near the town of Penkridge, Staffordshire, England . It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building....
Stephenson had obtained a tender of £26,000. After Locke took over, he gave the potential contractor better information and agreed a price of only £6,000. Locke also tried to avoid tunnels because in those days tunnels often took longer and cost more than planned. The Stephensons regarded 1 in 330 as the maximum slope that an engine could manage and Robert Stephenson achieved this on the London and Birmingham Railway
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....
by using seven tunnels which added both cost and delay. Locke avoided tunnels almost completely on the Grand Junction but exceeded the slope limit for six miles south of Crewe
Crewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
.
Proof of Locke's ability to estimate costs accurately is given by the fact that the construction of the Grand Junction line cost £18,846 per mile as against Locke's estimate of £17,000. This is amazingly accurate compared with the estimated costs for the London and Birmingham Railway (Robert Stephenson) and the Great Western Railway (Brunel).
Locke also divided the project into a few large sections rather than many small ones. This allowed him to work closely with his contractors to develop the best methods, overcome problems and personally gain practical experience of the building process and of the contractors themselves. He used the contractors who worked well with him, especially Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one...
and William Mackenzie
William Mackenzie
William Mackenzie may refer to:* William Mackenzie , Scottish ophthalmologist* William Mackenzie , British civil engineering contractor...
, on many other projects. Everyone gained from this cooperative approach whereas Brunel's more adversarial approach eventually made it hard for him to get anyone to work for him.
Marriage
In 1834 Locke married Phoebe McCreery, with whom he adopted a child. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1838.Lancaster and Carlisle Railway
A significant difference between the surveying methods of George Stephenson and Joseph Locke was that, because Stephenson had started his career at a time when locomotives had little power to overcome excessive gradients, he avoided such gradients at all costs, often adding many miles to the line of the route, whereas Locke had more confidence in the ability of modern locomotives to climb these gradients. An example of this was the Lancaster and Carlisle RailwayLancaster and Carlisle Railway
The Lancaster and Carlisle Railway was a British railway company authorised on 6 June 1844 to build a line between Lancaster and Carlisle in North-West England...
, which had to cope with the barrier of the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
mountains. In 1839 Stephenson proposed a circuitous route that avoided the Lake District by going all the way round Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay
Morecambe Bay is a large bay in northwest England, nearly due east of the Isle of Man and just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of 310 km².-Natural features:The rivers Leven,...
and West Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
, claiming: 'This is the only practicable line from Liverpool to Carlisle. The making of a railway across Shap Fell is out of the question.' The directors rejected his route and chose the one proposed by Joseph Locke, one that used steep gradients and passed over Shap Fell. The line was completed by Locke and was a success.
The difference of opinion between Locke and George Stephenson over the choice of route for the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway illustrates a difference in philosophy between the two men regarding the way to build a railway. Both George and Robert Stephenson were prepared to go to great lengths to avoid steep gradients that would tax the locomotives of the day, even if this meant choosing a circuitous route that added on extra miles. Locke, on the other hand believed that they under-estimated the power of the latest locomotives and that the shortest practicable route should be chosen, even if it involved some steep gradients. His reasoning was that by avoiding long routes and tunneling, the line could be finished more quickly, with less capital costs, and could start earning revenue sooner. This became known as the 'up and over' school of engineering. Locke took a similar approach in planning the Caledonian Railway
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...
, from Carlisle
Carlisle railway station
Carlisle railway station, also known as Carlisle Citadel station, is a railway station whichserves the Cumbrian City of Carlisle, England, and is a major station on the West Coast Main Line, lying south of Glasgow Central, and north of London Euston...
to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. In both railways he introduced gradients of 1 in 75, which severely taxed fully laden locomotives. Even as more powerful locomotives were introduced, the trains that they pulled became heavier. It may therefore be the case that Locke, although his arguments carried the day, was not entirely right in his reasoning.
Manchester and Sheffield Railway
Woodhead Tunnel
The Woodhead Tunnels are three parallel trans-Pennine 3-mile long railway tunnels on the Woodhead Line, a former major rail link from Manchester to Sheffield in northern England...
, and the line opened, after many delays, on 23 December 1845. The building of the line required over a thousand navvies
Navvy
Navvy is a shorter form of navigator or navigational engineer and is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects...
and cost the lives of thirty-two of them, seriously injuring 140 others. The Woodhead Tunnel was such a difficult undertaking, that George Stephenson claimed that it could not be done, declaring that he would eat the first locomotive that got through the tunnel. It was estimated that the mortality amongst the navvies at the Woodhead Tunnel was just over 3 per cent, whereas the mortality amongst soldiers at the Battle of Waterloo was only 2.11 per cent.
Subsequent commissions
In the north, Locke also designed the Lancaster and Preston Junction RailwayLancaster and Preston Junction Railway
The Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway was an early British railway company, in Lancashire, England. It later merged with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway.- Construction :...
; the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway
Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway
The Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway was an early railway, which merged with the Caledonian Railway. It was created to provide train services between Greenock and Glasgow.-History:...
; and the Caledonian Railway
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century and it was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways Act 1921...
from Carlisle to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
.
In the south, he worked on the London and Southampton Railway, later called the London and South Western Railway
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...
, designing, among other structures, Richmond Railway Bridge
Richmond Railway Bridge
Richmond Railway Bridge in Richmond, south-west London crosses the River Thames immediately upstream of Twickenham Bridge. It carries National Rail services operated by South West Trains from London Waterloo to Reading, and lies between Richmond and St. Margarets stations.After the railway came to...
(1848, since replaced), and Barnes Bridge (1849), both across the River Thames, tunnels at Micheldever
Micheldever
Micheldever is a village in Hampshire, England, situated 6 miles north of Winchester.It lies upon the River Dever . The river, and village, formerly part of Stratton Park, lie on a Hampshire grass downland, underlain with chalk and flint...
, and the 12-arch Quay Street viaduct and the 16-arch Cams Hill viaduct, both in Fareham
Fareham
The market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly in the centre of the South Hampshire conurbation.It gives its name to the borough comprising the town and the surrounding area...
(1848).
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
rail link, the Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
to Mataró
Mataró
Mataró is the capital and largest city of the comarca of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia Autonomous Community, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, to the north-east of Barcelona. , it...
line and the Dutch Rhenish Railway. He was present in Paris when the Versailles train crash
Versailles train crash
The Versailles rail accident occurred on May 8, 1842 in the cutting at Meudon Bellevue , France. Following the King's fete celebrations at the Palace of Versailles, a train returning to Paris crashed at Meudon after the leading locomotive broke an axle. The carriages behind piled into the wrecked...
occurred in 1842, and produced a statement concerning the facts for General Charles Pasley
Charles Pasley
General Sir Charles William Pasley KCB was a British soldier and military engineer who wrote the defining text on the role of the post-American revolution British Empire: An Essay on the Military Policy and Institutions of the British Empire, published in 1810. This text changed how Britons...
of the Railway Inspectorate. He also experienced a catastrophic failure of one of his viaducts built on the new Paris-Le Havre link. . The viaduct was of stone and brick at Barentin
Barentin
Barentin is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A town of light industry and farming situated by the banks of the Austreberthe River in the Pays de Caux, some northwest of Rouen at the junction of the D6015, D143 and the D104 roads...
near Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, and was the longest and highest on the line. It was 108 feet high, and consisted of 27 arches, each 50 feet wide, with a total length of over 1600 feet. A boy hauling ballast for the line up an adjoining hillside early that morning (about 6.00 am) saw one arch (the fifth on the Rouen side) collapse, and the rest followed suit. Fortunately, no one was killed, although several workmen were injured in a mill below the structure. Locke attributed the catastrophic failure to frost action on the new lime cement, and premature off-centre loading of the viaduct with ballast. It was rebuilt at Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one...
’s cost, and survives to the present. Having pioneered many new lines in France, Locke also helped establish the first locomotive works in the country.
Distinctive features of Locke’s railway works were economy, the use of masonry bridges wherever possible and the absence of tunnels. An illustration of this is that there is no tunnel between Birmingham and Glasgow.
Relationship with Robert Stephenson
Locke and Robert Stephenson had been good friends at the beginning of their careers, but their friendship had been marred by Locke’s falling out with Robert’s father. It seems that Robert felt loyalty to his father required that he should take his side. It is significant that after the death of George Stephenson in August 1848, the friendship of the two men was revived. When Robert Stephenson died in October 1859, Joseph Locke was a pallbearer at his funeral. Locke is reported to have referred to Robert as 'the friend of my youth, the companion of my ripening years, and a competitor in the race of life'. Locke was also on friendly terms with his other engineering rival, Isambard Kingdom BrunelIsambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
.
In 1845, Locke and Stephenson were both called to give evidence before two committees. In April a House of Commons Select Committee was investigating the atmospheric railway
Atmospheric railway
An atmospheric railway uses air pressure to provide power for propulsion. In one plan a pneumatic tube is laid between the rails, with a piston running in it suspended from the train through a sealable slot in the top of the tube. Alternatively, the whole tunnel may be the pneumatic tube with the...
system proposed by Brunel. Brunel and Vignoles spoke in support of the system, whilst Locke and Stephenson spoke against it. The latter two were to be proved right in the long run. In August the two gave evidence before the Gauge Commissioners who were trying to arrive at a standard gauge for the whole country. Brunel spoke in favour of the 7 ft gauge he was using on the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
. Locke and Stephenson spoke in favour of the 4 ft 8½in gauge that they had used on several lines. The latter two won the day and their gauge was adopted as the standard.
Later life & Legacy
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
in between December 1857 and December 1859.
Locke also served as Member of Parliament for Honiton
Honiton
Honiton is a town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. The town's name is pronounced in two ways, and , each pronunciation having its adherents...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
from 1847.
Locke died in 1860, apparently from appendicitis, whilst on a shooting holiday. He is buried in London's Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in Kensal Green, in the west of London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton's poem The Rolling English Road from his book The Flying Inn: "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of...
.
Locke Park in Barnsley was dedicated to his memory by his wife Phoebe in 1862. It features a statue of Locke plus a folly
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
, 'Locke Tower'.
Locke's greatest legacy is the modern day West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
(WCML), which was formed by the joining of the Caledonian, Lancaster & Carlisle, Grand Junction railways to Robert Stephenson's London & Birmingham Railway. As a result, around three quarters of the WCML's route was planned and engineered by Locke.
External links
- The life of Joseph Locke, civil engineer by Joseph Devey (1862)