Stephenson Locomotive Society


Time line for railway developments
& Wollaton Waggonway associated dates
(WW dates. The original base list was supplied by Keith Hunt . List incorporated to site
with permission - Last revision 21May 2006)



Best
evidence

Conflicting
or uncertain date/interpretation (Event has provenance)

Uncertain
date or provenance
Item NB Canal events are shown (CAN)

NB These dates have been compiled from disparate sources over many years by differing collectors. To the best knowledge of the contributors / list compiler they are correct but this cannot be guaranteed. As time progresses definitive source references will be added as they are forwarded to the SLS.

12,000B.C. Submerged rutways off the coast of Malta.

2,500B.C[?] Rutways on Malta complete with 'points' and passing loops.

Roman period Continued use of the Roman technology ? The Romans used trucks on wooden tracks in their mines and it is believed, but not proven, that this technology continued to be used in parts of Europe into and through the “dark ages”

1283 First mention of sea coal mines in either Eyam, Wollaton or Cossall.

14th Cent (1300 - 99) The first pictorial record of an embryo railway is a primitive mine truck pictured in a German stained glass window dating back to the 14th century.

1486 First mention of mine pumps in the NE

1490[circa] Wollaton pits very profitable.

1550 Earliest recorded print of a mine tub railway. Published in Basle in 1550. Prevenance therefore for wooden rails on the continent

? Most writers state that there is no proof of railway related construction BUT that German miners working in the Royal mines at Keswick had knowledge of tub railways. However other writers do claim use.

1554 'Paid for - - - - mending rayles in the dye house close' - Wollaton? Probably fence rails.

1555 First known use of the word 'tram' in Britain within a surviving will. No confirmation that this was use of the word with relation to wheeled vehicles as it had other usage in the North and Scotland at the time related to Scandinavian links.

1580 Wollaton Hall started.

1587   Wollaton dye house built?

1588 Wollaton Hall finished.

1590   Wooden rails underground in Wollaton [mines or service tunnel?].

1594   Rayles in Prescot, Lancs - along THE WOOD on Old-maps?

1594 Rails mentioned in an English colliery account

1603 - 1604 [Oct - Oct] Wollaton wagon-way laid by Huntingdon Beaumont during the 1603 - 1604 annual lease period The WW is currently the earliest "rayled" cross-country waggonway with provenance* known to have been laid anywhere in the world. [*mentioned in a document relating to Sir Francis Willoughbys' Wollaton estate]

1605 Wooden wagon-way - Broseley to Severn.

? Coal mining commences on Trowell Moor.

1608 Huntingdon Beaumont took over coal leases near Blythe in Northumberland and laid three, commercially unsuccessful, waggonways in the following years. (at Bedlington, Bebside and Cowpen)

1609 Sir P. Willoughby buys Bramcote Moor coal rights from Henry Hanley.

1609 It is also believed that in this year Beaumont's three Durham waggonways were in use.

1612 Willoughby instrumental in bankrupting Beaumont

1612 Willoughby gains coal pits on Trowell Moor.

1614 Beaumont ran out of money and the N E waggonways were abandoned. However the site was stripped of the rails and other equipment, possibly for use elsewhere.

By 1618 Wollaton Wagonway use by Beaumont had to cease. (Expiry of lease).

circa 1621 The Whickham Grand Lease Way opened. The first non-Beaumont Waggonway to be laid. It was again in the N E running down to Dunston on the Tyne's Durham bank. NB The opening date and other details of consruction are not recorded in surviving documents but the opening date appears to be before Beaumont's death. However it is not known if HB and the line's Engineer met (possibly whilst HB was in gaol) for technical discussions.

1624 Beaumont died, an un-discharged bankrupt, in Nottingham Gaol.

1628 In 1628 a petition was requested of Charles 1 to regulate the coal trade including a reference to "reformed cariages". Although this was a proposal to bring use of waggons on waggonways under Crown control infuriatingly it neither confirms nor eliminates the possibility of any actually being in use during 1628. However it does confirm that the potential of waggonways was appreciated by highly influential levels of society within only 24 years.

1642 to 1645 - The English Civil War

1649 That Beaumont' had introduced waggonways into the NE confirmed in a book. (Gray's History of Newcastle - pubished in 1649)

1676 Detailed, surviving, written description of a waggonway near Newcastle

1690 A mine in the NE with 620 railed wagons.

1719 Documented use of a man-powered novelty "push" railway at the Court of King Louis XV on edge rails with flanged wheels and a turntable!

1734 Ralph Allens' wagon-way from stone quarries to River Avon [and ferry] near Bath

1744 Wollaton Courtyard built and Wollaton village rebuilt.

1745 First metal line Horsehay to Coalbrookedale?

1758 The first Act of Parliament obtained to authorise railway construction - The Middleton Railway in Leeds.

1759 (CAN) Act of Parliament, Bridgewater canal - first such in England

1764 William Brown surveyed wagon-way between Nottingham and Nuthall

1765 Gabrielle Jar’s Voyages Métallurgiques published in Paris. Records 18th century wagon way practice in Durham. Of note are flanged wheels on wooden rails.

1767 Iron plates on wooden rails on Ketley inclined plane, Shrops?

1768 Richard Edgeworth suggests smaller wagons in a train - unsuitable for angular wagon-ways

1775 Plateways dev. by John Curr/James Outram at Ripley - cast iron "L" section rails on wood sleepers, that were vandalised.

1775 John Curr laid a line in Sheffield - that was vandalised.

? Outram develops iron rails on stone block

1778 (CAN) Loughborough Navigation [River Soar] - Trent to Loughborough

1779 [July] (CAN) Erewash canal - Trent to Langley Mill, and Cromford canal.

1789 William Jessop invented edge rails - first used near Loughborough

1796 [April] (CAN) Nottingham canal - Langley Mill [via Wollaton] to Nottingham and Trent

1796 (CAN) Robinetts arm of Notts. Canal, stated as main coal outlet

1798 (CAN) Beeston canal opened to Nottingham etc., bypassing Trents' Wilford Shallows

1802 Three lines from Walkers pits to Nottingham canal at Bilborough

1803 World's first public railway, the Surrey Iron Railway (Horses and L shaped rail - freight only)

1804
Trevithick's steam locomotive is recorded as the first self propelling ralway engine to haul a significant load. (on iron plate L rails at Penydarren, South Wales)

1807 World's first public railway passenger service. Oystermouth Railway in S Wales (Horse haulage)

1812 The first commercially successful use of steam locmotives on a railway - The Middleton Railway in Leeds.

Battle of Waterloo - 1815

1815 The world’s first major railway disaster just one month after the the battle of Waterloo! William Brunton’s – “Iron horse” was the most bizarre of the pioneer engines. A test example did work at Crich. (Derbys) A full size example built in 1815 for the Newbottle Colliery regrettably blew up killing 12 or more spectators from a large crowd gathered to view its inauguration. (Not Brunton's fault - the driver had weighted down the safety valve)

1817 [but prob. earlier] Tramway from Shaws Plantation to Nott. canal - later owned by Cossall
Colliery. Co

? Tramway from Catstone Hill to Strelley roadside coal wharf

? " " " " to Robinetts arm on Notts. Canal

1825 Stockton & Darlington Railway (Mixed traction still used - horses, steam locomotives and rope worked inclines)

1830 Liverpool & Manchester Railway opened. The world's first true, modern style, public railway operated by locomotives.

Conflicting information (W.I.P)
[A] Some books state that Beaumont reached the Derby Rd - and maybe even the Trent. [B] Wollaton Wagon-way route given as Strelley to Old Coach Rd.- Jack Culpit. Lenton Times May 89. [C] None of road/lane names given elsewhere [as route/terminus] of Wollaton Wagon-way exist. [D] None of present day Wollaton is as far away as 2 miles from Nottingham/Derby Rd. [E] Bilborough, Trowell and Strelley have all been given as locations of Beaumonts' pits by different writers. [F] Rayles made illegal for being "too suscessful".

Best evidence	Conflicting or uncertain date/interpretation (Event has provenance)	Uncertain date or provenance	Item NB Canal events are shown (CAN)
NB These dates have been compiled from disparate sources over many years by differing collectors. To the best knowledge of the contributors / list compiler they are correct but this cannot be guaranteed. As time progresses definitive source references will be added as they are forwarded to the SLS.
12,000B.C.			Submerged rutways off the coast of Malta.
		2,500B.C[?]	Rutways on Malta complete with 'points' and passing loops.
Roman period		Continued use of the Roman technology ?	The Romans used trucks on wooden tracks in their mines and it is believed, but not proven, that this technology continued to be used in parts of Europe into and through the “dark ages”
1283			First mention of sea coal mines in either Eyam, Wollaton or Cossall.
14th Cent (1300 - 99)			The first pictorial record of an embryo railway is a primitive mine truck pictured in a German stained glass window dating back to the 14th century.
1486			First mention of mine pumps in the NE
1490[circa]			Wollaton pits very profitable.
1550			Earliest recorded print of a mine tub railway. Published in Basle in 1550. Prevenance therefore for wooden rails on the continent
		?	Most writers state that there is no proof of railway related construction BUT that German miners working in the Royal mines at Keswick had knowledge of tub railways. However other writers do claim use.
		1554	'Paid for - - - - mending rayles in the dye house close' - Wollaton? Probably fence rails.
		1555	First known use of the word 'tram' in Britain within a surviving will. No confirmation that this was use of the word with relation to wheeled vehicles as it had other usage in the North and Scotland at the time related to Scandinavian links.
1580			Wollaton Hall started.
		1587	Wollaton dye house built?
1588			Wollaton Hall finished.
		1590	Wooden rails underground in Wollaton [mines or service tunnel?].
		1594	Rayles in Prescot, Lancs - along THE WOOD on Old-maps?
		1594	Rails mentioned in an English colliery account
1603 - 1604 [Oct - Oct]			Wollaton wagon-way laid by Huntingdon Beaumont during the 1603 - 1604 annual lease period *The WW is currently the earliest "rayled" cross-country waggonway with provenance known to have been laid anywhere in the world.** [*mentioned in a document relating to Sir Francis Willoughbys' Wollaton estate]
1605			Wooden wagon-way - Broseley to Severn.
		?	Coal mining commences on Trowell Moor.
1608			Huntingdon Beaumont took over coal leases near Blythe in Northumberland and laid three, commercially unsuccessful, waggonways in the following years. (at Bedlington, Bebside and Cowpen)
1609			Sir P. Willoughby buys Bramcote Moor coal rights from Henry Hanley.
		1609	It is also believed that in this year Beaumont's three Durham waggonways were in use.
		1612	Willoughby instrumental in bankrupting Beaumont
		1612	Willoughby gains coal pits on Trowell Moor.
	1614		Beaumont ran out of money and the N E waggonways were abandoned. However the site was stripped of the rails and other equipment, possibly for use elsewhere.
By 1618			Wollaton Wagonway use by Beaumont had to cease. (Expiry of lease).
	circa 1621		The Whickham Grand Lease Way opened. The first non-Beaumont Waggonway to be laid. It was again in the N E running down to Dunston on the Tyne's Durham bank. NB The opening date and other details of consruction are not recorded in surviving documents but the opening date appears to be before Beaumont's death. However it is not known if HB and the line's Engineer met (possibly whilst HB was in gaol) for technical discussions.
1624			Beaumont died, an un-discharged bankrupt, in Nottingham Gaol.
	1628		In 1628 a petition was requested of Charles 1 to regulate the coal trade including a reference to "reformed cariages". Although this was a proposal to bring use of waggons on waggonways under Crown control infuriatingly it neither confirms nor eliminates the possibility of any actually being in use during 1628. However it does confirm that the potential of waggonways was appreciated by highly influential levels of society within only 24 years.
1642 to 1645 - The English Civil War
1649			That Beaumont' had introduced waggonways into the NE confirmed in a book. (Gray's History of Newcastle - pubished in 1649)
1676			Detailed, surviving, written description of a waggonway near Newcastle
1690			A mine in the NE with 620 railed wagons.
1719			Documented use of a man-powered novelty "push" railway at the Court of King Louis XV on edge rails with flanged wheels and a turntable!
1734			Ralph Allens' wagon-way from stone quarries to River Avon [and ferry] near Bath
1744			Wollaton Courtyard built and Wollaton village rebuilt.
	1745		First metal line Horsehay to Coalbrookedale?
1758			The first Act of Parliament obtained to authorise railway construction - The Middleton Railway in Leeds.
1759			(CAN) Act of Parliament, Bridgewater canal - first such in England
1764			William Brown surveyed wagon-way between Nottingham and Nuthall
1765			Gabrielle Jar’s Voyages Métallurgiques published in Paris. Records 18th century wagon way practice in Durham. Of note are flanged wheels on wooden rails.
	1767		Iron plates on wooden rails on Ketley inclined plane, Shrops?
1768			Richard Edgeworth suggests smaller wagons in a train - unsuitable for angular wagon-ways
1775			Plateways dev. by John Curr/James Outram at Ripley - cast iron "L" section rails on wood sleepers, that were vandalised.
1775			John Curr laid a line in Sheffield - that was vandalised.
		?	Outram develops iron rails on stone block
1778			(CAN) Loughborough Navigation [River Soar] - Trent to Loughborough
1779 [July]			(CAN) Erewash canal - Trent to Langley Mill, and Cromford canal.
1789			William Jessop invented edge rails - first used near Loughborough
1796 [April]			(CAN) Nottingham canal - Langley Mill [via Wollaton] to Nottingham and Trent
1796			(CAN) Robinetts arm of Notts. Canal, stated as main coal outlet
1798			(CAN) Beeston canal opened to Nottingham etc., bypassing Trents' Wilford Shallows
1802			Three lines from Walkers pits to Nottingham canal at Bilborough
1803			World's first public railway, the Surrey Iron Railway (Horses and L shaped rail - freight only)
1804			Trevithick's steam locomotive is recorded as the first self propelling ralway engine to haul a significant load. (on iron plate L rails at Penydarren, South Wales)
1807			World's first public railway passenger service. Oystermouth Railway in S Wales (Horse haulage)
1812			The first commercially successful use of steam locmotives on a railway - The Middleton Railway in Leeds.
Battle of Waterloo - 1815
1815			The world’s first major railway disaster just one month after the the battle of Waterloo! William Brunton’s – “Iron horse” was the most bizarre of the pioneer engines. A test example did work at Crich. (Derbys) A full size example built in 1815 for the Newbottle Colliery regrettably blew up killing 12 or more spectators from a large crowd gathered to view its inauguration. (Not Brunton's fault - the driver had weighted down the safety valve)
		1817 [but prob. earlier]	Tramway from Shaws Plantation to Nott. canal - later owned by Cossall Colliery. Co
		?	Tramway from Catstone Hill to Strelley roadside coal wharf
		?	" " " " to Robinetts arm on Notts. Canal
1825			Stockton & Darlington Railway (Mixed traction still used - horses, steam locomotives and rope worked inclines)
1830			Liverpool & Manchester Railway opened. The world's first true, modern style, public railway operated by locomotives.